Hardy Jogger Bow River Vapour Frost Crystals Late Morning Sunshine

Late morning December sunshine cut long blue shadows stretching silhouettes of spruce trees diagonally across the snow-covered field. A single set of footsteps led to the #1 bus stop along Memorial Drive. It's Sunday and everything is slower paced. Languid vapour rose from the Bow River that refused to freeze as it snaked through the city. Inside the south eastern light bathed the kitchen in a golden glow and it seemed almost indecent to be enjoying fresh coffee and pancakes while hardy joggers faced -29°C (which according to Web weather felt more like -39 C with the humidity and winds from the NW). Despite appearances of an inner glow it took awhile for the house to heat up from an invigorating 15°C.

Crystals of frost along the edges of the ice-painted windows revealed intricate patterns, millions of colours and unwanted, wasteful heat loss. We used to stick coins onto the surface to try to make the most exact copies of the tiny images of royalty and maple leaves.

It's gone now, covered in clear plastic to reduce energy use.