Goodnight friends! My prediction of the snow clearing quickly looks pretty naive so far. It’s hardly diminished at all – just too dense to melt that fast, and rather than a little light rain overnight we had a hard freeze. Skies are brilliant and clear and the surface of the snow has frozen into a stiff, solid plane, sparkling like flakes of diamond. A light step sometimes doesn’t break the surface, and when it does it collapses slightly in a jagged angular chunk around each footfall with a faint shattering noise. At least today’s 2°c felt fairly mild, no scouring wind gnaeing at noses and fingers. Little pockmarks beneath the trees as brief showers of snowmelt speckle the snow. Flash of sulphur yellow chests and cobalt wings as blue tits dart and squabble among bare maple branches.
Walking a little farther again, trying to gently and carefully feel out the limits of my endurance, with hopes of possibly rebuilding my stamina. This time with my girlfriend and her dog on an outing to the park, over much wider open spaces to enjoy the broad sweep of the snowy fields. Feeling a little more confident in my body again, but used up all the day’s energy pretty quickly. Mostly drooping on the sofa under a blanket for the rest of the day.
May we allow ourselves to play and experiment without fear of failure today!
Image ID: Photo of a brilliant blue sky above a gently sloping snow-covered meadow between dense curving thickets of dark green hollies and bare oaks, the low sun casting long indigo shadows across the snow.
