When snow falls...

The snow began falling in the early afternoon. It was light and somewhat powdery at first, but as afternoon turned into evening it became heavier and heavier until in a very short space of time it had painted everything pure white. And it continued falling. Quietly, gently, silently, but persistently. The layer of white began to grow and grow and, as I stood and stared out of the window in undisguised childlike glee, it looked like a veritable Winter Wonderland to me!

In the same way I have always loved to watch it raining, and the heavier the better, I’ve loved to watch the snow come down, the thicker the better! And just as rain excites me by the noise it makes, snow enchants me by the noise it doesn’t make, by its silent presence. It gradually produces an effect that holds me in thrall: it muffles sounds, so that it produces an eerie but fascinating silence that envelops everything. The sound of rain thrills me, the silence of snow puts me in awe, and the wonder of Nature enthralls me. And that in turn awakens in me a feeling tantamount to a sort of spiritual, not to say religious, experience in its own way.

And so as it snowed on, I did what I have done many times before: I took out my camera and began taking pictures of the snow and its effects. I opened the window or the door and felt a delightful shiver run down my spine as the cold sharp air blew in and I felt a few snowflakes touch my face, borne in by the chilly breeze. Undeterred, and feeling a sense of excitement, I snapped away, and the photos in this blog are just a tiny fraction of the many pics I took on that day. I wanted a visual record of the event, as indeed I had wanted of the snow that had fallen just over a year ago.

As night fell, the snow, still strong, continued to descend and now its general effect on the landscape was altered in the bright light of the street lamps. The dim grey light of the dark overcast day was replaced by the eerie glow of artificial yellowy-white light which picked out the free-falling snowflakes and lit up the carpet of snow that lay all around. In turn the snow reflected back the light and the end-result was a magical nocturnal display in yellow and white reflections, an optical melody to delight the eye.

Am I exaggerating the beauty and effect of snow? Perhaps I am… because for me it is a very personal and even emotional experience, as I have said. I have always found the sight of falling snow and freshly-fallen snow strangely comforting, strangely soothing in its desolate beauty. Few other natural phenomena can compare in my estimation. But the hour was late, and as I finally dragged myself reluctantly to bed, laid myself down, my mind was full of the scene outside. A gentle peace came upon me and I drifted into that welcome sleep that rests and refreshes both mind, body and soul. 

Through my window

The sun shines through my window and illuminates a narrow slice of the room,

outside the sun is a dazzling splash of pale yellow light low on the horizon,

it lights up a corner of the sky, still magnificent as it slowly sets in the west,

the dark leafless trees are silhouetted against its flaming gold splendour,

frosty corners of the window panes glint magically in the dying sunlight,

outside freshly-fallen snow blankets the ground and tops the garden wall;

The sun is a spectacle of golden dazzling light but it’s a sun that gives no heat,

it is a cold sun in a harsh winter and there are many more chilly days ahead.

From the warmth of my heated room I peer through the window and shiver,

only necessity will persuade me to venture out in this cold winter’s chill.

In a matter of minutes the fiery disc of the sun will dip below the horizon,

then a sudden darkness will descend upon a silent wintry landscape,

and with the coming of night will come a bone-piercing numbing cold,

and the only sight dimly perceived in the pale moonlight through my window

will be a carpet of snow maintaining all things in a long dreamless sleep.

Snow!

Part One:

Well here it is again... snow! This year's winter is set to look more like the sort of winters we used to get when I was a child where snow was pretty well on the menu every year around this time. As I write, late at night, it is snowing fairly hard and the landscape is gradually turning white. And the short-term forecast is that snow will continue to fall throughout the night and perhaps into tomorrow. So we shall see what we shall see. But snow or no snow, it's damn cold!

Part Two:

It's all over. At least as far as the next few days are concerned. It didn't snow in this part of the country today and now it's all clearing, moving northwards to hit those tough northerners.. But I dare say if we don't get any more snow this year the likelihood is that we will get some early next year. Pity though that it never coincides with Christmas or at least Christmas Day anymore.

Part Three:

Snow or no snow, it's coooold... brrrrrrrrrr! And once snow has settled in any quantity, ice will begin to form in the days that follow and that's even more treacherous than snow. Oh well, happy days!

Hey, this is looking very civilised... a handful of cars moving along in a very orderly fashion, considerately spaced out, all very gentlemanly! Not the usual bumper-to-bumper crawl of hundreds of cars that we are used to seeing. On the other hand they are probably in some god-forsaken out-of-the way part of the country where five cars in a row are already seen as traffic congestion!

At my desk

That's me in the picture at my desk, working on my computer, and pausing to look out of the window in front of me. Well, not quite. I'm not that young, nor that slim, nor that cute... except in my mind, of course...hehhe... And when I was the same age as the youth in the picture there was no such thing as a desktop or laptop computer, or many other things, come to that. But I do pause from time to time from my work at my computer to look out of the window ahead of me. That much is true. Though i don't stuff my hands in my pockets!

This morning when I paused from my work to look out of my study window it was grey and gloomy outside, and I knew it was cold too, the scattered patches of frost testified to that. But it was also snowing. A light sprinkling of snowflakes that were falling sideways blown by the breeze. But it didn’t last very long. In fact it wasn't really proper snow, it was more like sleet. In less than an hour it had come to an end and there was just a light dusting here and there which I knew was not going to be there for long. And by late afternoon there was no evidence that it had been there. The grey sky was still there though. And the wind. And the cold.

...........

It's on dark days like this that I often find myself daydreaming. Funnily enough I seldom daydream when the weather is fine and the sun is out - that's a sure turnoff. But when it's dull and dreary like today or, even better, when it's raining or sleeting or snowing, my mind begins to wander as I stare out of the window at the wintry scene outside. There's nothing like grey and grim weather to get the creative juices welling up, assuming one has any, of course. So here I sit at my desk on just such a day and waiting for inspiration to flow into me and creativity to flow out... I only hope it won't be a long wait!

The above pic was taken in a more clement season some while back and gives a more faithful image of the view from my study-cum-office window. Below is the garden and beyond that is a park. Not a bad view, eh? It has a calming effect on me and helps me work. It also helps me write this blog when I can spare a moment. It is my window on the world, you might say.