Iced Tree at Labrador City

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A common sight at Christmas is a lighted, iced tree. Early in December, branches of deciduous trees are collected and placed into a snow base. Water is then poured over the base and allowed to freeze to anchor the branches upright. The branches are then decorated with multi-colored lights and then sprayed with a fine mist which freezes. The procedure of spraying the tree is repeated many times until the lights and branches are covered with a translucent coating of ice. When the lights are turned on in the evening, the ice diffuses the multi-colored lights for a spectacular effect. This photo does not do this type of decoration justice.

During Christmas 2004, we observed our neighbor making an iced tree. They started the fine mist spray in mid afternoon and the tree was not finished for about four hours. That may not seem like a long time; however, the day he made his tree, the wind chill was -45 C (-49 F). That's a long time standing outside in that weather. But the extreme cold made a beautiful iced creation.