Cool Works of Art:

As a child I was entertained during numerous cold snaps by the abstract art that mysteriously appeared on our windows. The frosted etchings on the single pains of glass in our rural house ignited my imagination.  I never caught Jack Frost, only because my big brother was too busy to help me ambush him, or so I was convinced. I was so determined to catch the frost painter that one evening I set snares that my father had prepared for use on his snare-lines in the woods. I tied a wire rabbit snare to the handle of each downstairs window and rounded the noose just wide enough so as to trap the little nymph's foot.

In the morning, from my view point at the top of the stairs, it looked like I caught the tiny artist, and he was sporting a fur coat.  Poor old Tom Puss, he must have spent that night with his foot tethered by a snare.  My mother released the cat after I shouted that Jack Frost was caught in a trap. As luck would have it my older brother was blamed for the whole affair. He was warned the night before, when he played with Dad's snares, that he "might catch the cat".  I felt slightly guilty, but I wasn't remorseful enough to admit that I set the snare that caught the cat.

My interest in Jack Frost waned somewhat after that narrow escape from the truth.