Both of these photos show the same tree on Goose Egg Island at Farmington Bay WMA. The images were taken in December of 2022 and 2013.
Frost-free, bare tree at Farmington Bay WMA
The tree is an introduced species, Ailanthus altissima, a tree that some people consider invasive. I think this tree has eye-catching beauty on the edge of Goose Egg Island. I’ve photographed quite a few birds on this tree, and so have many other photographers.
One year ago today, when I took this photo, I wasn’t thinking about birds. I also wasn’t thinking about the bright blue sky, the lacy-looking clouds, my composition, or the snow-covered Wasatch Mountains on the right side of the frame.
I was focused on what I wasn’t seeing in front of me when I took this photo during a record-breaking, crazy, snowy winter.
Hoar frost covered tree at Farmington Bay WMA
I wasn’t seeing hoar frost on the tree. In fact, I didn’t see frost on the tree at all. No frost on the hillside grasses either.
Seeing hoar frost at Farmington Bay WMA used to be commonplace. The wetlands looked like something out of an illustration for the ‘Snow Queen,’ written and published by Hans Christian Andersen in 1845.
Frost covered the trees, grasses, seedheads, and fences.
If something didn’t move, it was covered in frost at the WMA during this time of the year. It freaking looked magical, especially after sunrise when the frost would sparkle in the sunlight as it started to let loose and fall to the ground.
We don’t see the frost like we used to; certainly not as frequently or as thick as it used to be. We don’t see the moisture that formed it as often either.
Climate change deniers don’t see what we are seeing.
It’s not that they can’t see it; they choose not to see it. They choose not to act.
Me? I can’t unsee what is happening. Yes, I see more than just a tree in these photos.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Farmington Bay WMA photos.
Wonderful pics. I see what you’re seeing – albeit not as well. Thanks Mia.
I couldn’t agree more about the world’s general lack of interest in the continuing devastation of our environment. I am surprised and disappointed at the number of people who have read Carl Sagan’s treatise on the significance of the “Pale Blue Dot” and just don’t get it. That’s scary.
It is many a long year since I have seen hoar frost – though we never saw it as often as you did. How I wish that the deniers would open their eyes and their hearts.