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Frosty Naicam |
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| FTLComm - Naicam - Monday, February 23, 2004 | ||||||
 This morning as I left Tisdale for a trip to Naicam there was only a hint of hoar frost on the trees and only a thin layer on the North side of the van but as I made my way south on #35 the trees became whiter and more impressive after only a few miles. By the time I was at the Barrier it was crystal country. Hoar frost is by far one of the most interesting weather conditions that visits us. The water vapour from the fog forms fagile crystaline structures on every twig, every limb and every needle then begins to vanish |
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 with a gentle breeze or the emerging of the sun from the low clouds above. Because it is a temporary condition it is a sort of accent upon the trees who have had to maintain their winter silence, the frosts adorns them fills them with the whiteness that no snowfall can duplicate. As I turned off 35 and headed toward Naicam visibility declined as the low lying cloud that had deposited the frost was still flopping on the fields, sliding through the trees and puffing over the road. |
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 In Naicam itself the trees, wires and fences all held onto the frost magnifying their size many times over. As the noon hour ended (below) the cloud (fog) was burning off or climbing away from the warming ground and a warm promise of spring sun flashed off the crystal trees. Naicam is a thriving and vibrant rural community with its school and businesses. But, it is also a place were a significant number of people make their home and are proud of their place situated on a busy highway in the midst of both agricultural and recreational countryside. |
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 This picture (right) is about forty minutes older than the one above as the fog has lifted just a tad in those forty minutes. Two elevators still stand in Naicam, most of these wood structures have disappeared from Saskatchewan towns and with them the prosperity that they once were a part. Below looking toward the elevators you can see what is left the thin cloud dispersing a couple hundred feet above the ground while more than thirty-five thousand feet above and several miles south you can make out the contrail of a passenger aircraft making its way across the Canadian prairies headed for Europe. |
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 This cenotaph and its surrounding trees mark a special spot in Naicam and today the frost made that spot even more special. I liked the contrast in the image below. A very patriotic image with the red flag, blue sky and dazzling white tree. The two story brick structure is the Naicam detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. |
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 More streets of trees dripping with frost like this weeping birch a block south of the school yard. My journey was then to head North up highway #6 to Melfort and with the sun behind me a dark glasses it was just one line of trees after another. Ten minutes south of Melfort the frost was no longer covering everything and five minutes south of the city it was all but gone. These pictures on this page were take with both a still HP digital camera and a Canon Optura 10 video camera. |
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