Unusual Frost by Dory Schreuder

These are photographs taken by my cousin Dory at his home in Bozman, Montana, on Dec. 5, 2010, and if you click on them and open you can see all the detail and the sparkle. Mother Nature outdid herself when she created this wonder.

My cousins words: "We had a very heavy fog/frost at about 0 degrees. I took some photos this morning at about 10 degrees. The frost had grown crystals which stood vertically on most surfaces. The crystals were quite large.....big enough to photograph. When the sun shown on them, they were like thousands of mirrors reflecting light from everywhere. The photos only hint of the spectacle because the camera captured just the brightest."

I told my niece that I would tell her the story of how I met my cousin. So here goes.....

I was at work one day and taking dictation from a co-worker. We stopped for awhile so that he could gather his thought and I could rest my hand (that's right it was dictation done the old fashioned way with a pen, a steno notebook and Mr. Gregg's shorthand). We started talking about our families. He mentioned that he was from Montana and I told him that I had a great-uncle living in Billings. He asked me his name. "Harry Winfrey" I replied and that is when I found out that he was a great-nephew of Harry. (My Grandmother Hemping and Harry were siblings. I just realized that great-uncle Harry may have been my dad's namesake.)

As we talked more I realized that we had met many years before when my family had taken a trip to Montana when I was five years old. I remember him a little bit, but only because I knew him as the cousin that had been "stomped" by a horse. It only goes to show just how small the world was even back then. It is even smaller today.

Since then we have kept in touch. I moved back to Maryland and he moved to Washington State for awhile, eventually ending up back in Montana - his home state. He built his house himself. It sits on a a mountain top overlooking the town. He has sent some really nice pictures over the years and one day I hope to visit him there. Of course, it is going to have to be when the weather is warm as I am not a "cold weather" person.

Things happen in strange ways when they are meant to happen. Dory and I were destined to be reunited in San Diego, California, all those years later (approximately 25 by my count) and we have kept in touch ever since. This is not much of my dad's family left and I am grateful to having Dory in my life.