I'm a bit of a wuss in the icy weather. Our street doesn't get gritted and it doesn't see much sun, so after a week of freezing conditions it had become pretty treacherous and I was only going out when I absolutely had to. When I opened the curtains on Saturday morning to the pink glow of a winter sunrise and a hillside covered in a thick hoar frost I knew it was one of those times, not because I needed to do some shopping or get to work but just to be out enjoying the spectacle.
So I put my big girl ice grippers on and with one tiny tentative step at a time I crunched up our frozen road.
The steep road up to the meadows had been gritted and was mostly clear so I got up high more easily than I expected and oh my goodness it was so beautiful. I was as giddy as the kids who were zooming down the field on their sledges. There was so much to squeal about!
The snow was sparkling and every step I took twinkled.
The meadow grass once golden in the midsummer sun had found a new kind of brilliance,
the remaining ragwort seed heads now covered in ice crystals
and the hogweed, well it exudes sculptural beauty whatever the season.
The thick crust of crispy snow invited me deeper into the fields and I wandered in the edges usually too boggy and wet to bother with. As I explored this wonderland I heard an unmistakable whistling...
Bullfinches! What a treat. They are (one of) my favourites. I hear them from my house but I don't get to see them often. As I sat in the snow waiting and hoping they would come a little closer I had another magical sighting...
A barn owl. I guess more visible than usual as they are having to work much harder for food in these frozen conditions. I didn't see it catch anything.
I sat on a wall, drinking a flask of tea, trying to soak up as much of this bright cold beauty as I could.
I sat on a wall, drinking a flask of tea, trying to soak up as much of this bright cold beauty as I could.
A robin hopped about in the hawthorn looking like a Christmas card, jackdaws cackled in the distant trees and I reflected on how glad I was that I let my feet and excited heart carry me up here. There is so often something magical waiting on the other side of our fears.
This is the same hillside that I wrote about back in May when it was covered in bright yellow buttercups and dandelion clocks as far as the eye could see. It's amazing to consider that all that summer potential is lying wait under the cold ground and in only FOUR months time those buttercups will be back!
But for now, let's appreciate all the beauty of winter. x
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