Fern frost is frost that forms on windows. A few mornings ago I found my car covered with not just the usual annoying granular layer, but a splendid floral pattern. What a shame to have to scrape it away.
I used to get these on the windows of my previous apartment. Window frost is usually a sign of a poorly insulated window, but I didn't mind because I didn't pay for heat. Irresponsible attitude? Perhaps, but that fanciful decor on winter mornings was one of the few luxuries about the place.
I have a couple old, poorly insulated windows in my new apartment, too, but now that I pay for hydro I must take a different attitude. I might cover them with a layer of plastic or insulating curtains. Maybe it's for the best.
With politicians from around the world meeting in Copenhagen this week to discuss strategies to address climate change, it is clear we must all work hard to curtail careless use of carbon fuels. We need to make hard choices to adjust our lifestyles, or in the end our planet will impose deadly changes.
Fern frost is a nostalgic reminder of an innocent childhood, maybe a happier time when nature seemed a simpler, more benevolent force. Life on Earth will never be the same.
