fog envelopes snow

fog envelopes snow

black trees, orange buffalo grass
in an empty field

Snow is melting but the ground remains frozen. Icy water stands in pools in depressions or runs downhill into ice-clogged creeks. Moisture rises into the warmer air during the day, cools at night and condenses as fog that lasts until late morning. The wetness darkens tree bark, deepens the orange of buffalo grass, illuminates the interlacing remnants of snow. Everything appears closer, a bit out of focus, softer yet more intense, more intimate. Even the long-gone bison are there, just beyond that line of trees, hidden in the fog.