Colorado has been on the edge of the extreme cold that has gripped the eastern half of the country this winter. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2015/01/08/united-states-climate-2014-tale-two-regions/#more-9604  That means that we’ve had more of a Midwestern kind of a winter than the Midwest has, complete with ice storms.

This morning, we woke up to a winter fantasy land, west of Denver, where I live. A perfect combination of 100% humidity, 32 degrees and a breath of wind let fog condense into rime ice over night. The ice spicules covered the trees in crystals an inch and a half long. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2015/01/13/frosty-day/#more-9671

I went out to photograph them around 9:00 am, while it was still just below freezing. An hour later, the sun came out and added just enough energy to make the ice crystals sparkle like diamonds before they melted.

An hour later, all the ice had melted and the fantasy land returned to the everyday.