This winter has been such a contrast with last year. The coldest low temperatures in 2013 occurred in January and there were just two mornings that were below 20 degrees. I kept the pool open all winter, and there were even several days during the winter that I heated the spa to enjoy on warmer days. Ah, but this winter... I installed a freeze protection thermostat to the pool filter so that when the outside air temperature was below 39 degrees the pump would circulate the water and prevent the water from freezing. It has worked well, except it has been so cold this month with numerous single-digit temperatures that the surface of the pool has frozen for a few days at a time. And yesterday morning as I went out, I noticed that on a few persistent half-submerged leaves frost had formed above the surface of the ice. And I couldn't resist taking a few photos. The sun was shining, the wind wasn't blowing. And I enjoyed the quick process of capturing an image. It almost takes my mind off the cold!