White Christmas

Well, considering the harsh winter last year and how early winter and snow came this year, no one really wished as hard for a white Christmas as they used to. Usually, about one in ten Christmas eves are white where I live. And, no surprise, it was snowy this year. And windy.



But winter also means beautiful days and, as long as they're really cold, sunny days. With lots of photo opportunities. These are a few pics I took last week. The first ones I took on Tuesday, winter solstice. The pic above is of our neighbour's house as seen through the high grass, which constitutes a rather unkempt part of our garden. It is unkempt as it used to be pasture for some of my grandpa's hefers so we never mowed it. Last year our ride-on mower broke down and it's too tough to mow by hand. So now it's even more unruly than before.




In old Norse mythology, the world tree was an ash. The first woman (she was created before the man) was made from elm wood and the first man from ash wood. This is one of our ash trees by the entrance. Said to be at least 100 years old and still bear marks where an angry farmhand tried to kill the tree. He cut into it after hitting it with his cart wheels one time to many. Of cause it was the tree's fault, not his for driving the horse carelessly. He cut the wrong way so the attempt failed.






And our beloved birches, also covered in rime. Lovely, gentle trees. Look as beautiful covered in frost during winter as when budding in May and with their yellow leaves falling in autumn.




I also took some pics on Monday, the day before when not everything was frost-clad. The sun was shining and it snowed very gently. As the sun shone through each tiny snowflake, it looked like it was silver or crystals falling down from the sky. So hard to capture with the camera, though.




Monday was a snowday and towards the West, the sky was cloudy and blue. That special sort of blue you find in snow clouds, which drapes along the horizon and heralds snow the same way there's no mistaking thunder clouds in the summer.






I really alternates right now, between the cloudy snowy days and the crisp, cold and sunny. I like that. As long as the wind is calm so it doesn't turn into a blizzard. Rather a cold and white winter that the usual dark, rainy and dull winters we otherwise get. The biggest problem is when the temperature hovers above and below zero with snow turning to slush turning to ice -- and then starting over again. This is winter as its finest.