Veiled Mountain

Mid afternoon, the sun is far in the west. Mount Torlesse is freshly coated in snow. Water vapour in the cold air condenses on fine particles of dust, forming a filmy veil. Sometimes you need to look twice to see it.

A beautiful cloudless day after the sort of frost that does for fruit blossoms. My one hope was to wet the frozen blossoms before the warm sunshine touched and thawed them too quickly. I was prepared with the outdoor tap wrapped up to keep it from freezing, and the hose safe in the greenhouse. But best laid plans…

The hose was partly frozen, along with everything else in the greenhouse. It was difficult to handle, but I connected it to the tap, hoping the water would blow through. Instead the double hose fitting burst apart. Without it the hose could not be connected to the tap. I went off in search of the appropriate fitting and installed it. In the meantime the hose, spread out on the frosty lawn was even more frozen. Only a trickle came out. I tried to get a hand sprayer working, but it was too puny for the job. Eventually the hose flowed freely and I sprayed the fruit trees, but by then the sunshine was on the top halves of the branches. I was exhausted though I'd been out of bed for less than 30 minutes. We can expect another two months of occasional hard frosts like this one. I may have to give up on the hope for fruit next summer.