Postcards from December

Dec 31, 2024

By Christian Begeman

As another year comes to an end, I find myself watching the weather closely like most of us in the Upper Midwest. When there is fog and overnight lows below freezing, I really pay attention. I know those conditions mean there is a good chance of frost appearing, which means great opportunities to find and photograph ordinary scenes that become transformed into extraordinary winter works of art.

This year what little snow we had in early December melted on a few relatively warm days, but the cold nights caused the moisture to return again in the form of fog and rime ice. Rime ice is the scientific term for it, but folks around here know the phenomena simply as frost. I particularly enjoy when frost appears like it did this season, with little to no snow to hinder traveling. I have family in the northeastern and north central part of the state, and this winter I’ve found myself on the road more than usual with holiday travel and attending basketball games. For two of those trips Jack Frost was hard at work, so I left early to see what I could find.

On Christmas Eve I was due in Mobridge for supper. That gave me all day to search out frosty art on my way. I started at Terrace Park in Sioux Falls. Ornamental cherry trees still had red fruit attached and few leaves had yet to drop. These provided excellent bases for frost to accumulate. After about an hour, I drove up to the Dells of the Big Sioux, stopping to shoot a favorite red barn and the railroad tracks that go through downtown Baltic. At the Dells, a pair of bald eagles were patrolling the river, and I was lucky enough to watch them fly below me as I was checking out the scenery.

From the Dells, I drove west to Highway 81 and then turned north after detouring through Lake Herman State Park near Madison. I stopped in the city park at Arlington where the rime ice was particularly thick. An old red hydrant that reminded me of watering calves back home on the farm was particularly striking adorned in frost. Later on, I spotted what looked like an elevator building on a ranch in rural Faulk County. By the time I was driving through Potter and Walworth counties, the snow was gone, but the fog still covered the taller grass and trees white with frost. It was hard not to be in good holiday spirits after a trip like that.

December seems to be the time when winter is most beautiful on the Northern Plains. Maybe it’s the holiday season, or because we simply aren’t tired of the cold yet. Either way, I hope you enjoy my collection of December postcards as much as I enjoyed capturing them. Happy New Year and good luck with the camera work the whole year long!

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he's not working at Midco he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.