HARSH CONDITIONS

Sunrise 08.02 - Sunset 17.47

It is cold again. Some days ago it seemed that spring could not be far. Temperatures well above zero. Snow and ice was disappearing fast but now winter is still here. The horses in the forest have to search for food under the snow, scratching with there hooves. On the plain the wind is blowing taking the ground snow into the air and covering up all traces, roads and tracks. Harsh conditions but also breathtaking. All daily problems, small quarrels and discussion are trivial in comparison of the greatness of nature. Just go outside and embrace the beauty of it. Enjoy the outdoors.

MAGICAL LANDSCAPE

Sunrise 08.04 - Sunset 17.45

This weekend fresh snow has fallen and at the same time it is melting, not fast, temperatures are just above zero. The snow sticks to trees, branches everything. The sun is shining and the forests and the streams look like a landscape in a fairytale. Wind blows the snow from branches and sometimes you think to experience another snow shower. But the snow flakes are different more icy and sparkling in the sunshine, as if a shower of silver comes down from the trees. The streams are filled with clear, cold water. Up close you see everything beneath the surface, sand, plants the currents. From a distance they look like black ribbons in a white, powdered forest. A magical winters landscape.

PIECES OF HAIL

Sunrise 08.13 - Sunset 17.36

Have you ever been in a shower of hail. Not the one that pinches in your eyes or hurts your head but the one that is soft. During midday a hail cloud was coming closer and closer. You could see it from a distance in a blue sky. Sun was shining but it was coming closer fast. When I turned right on a desolated plain I saw the hail falling in the distance. It looked as if it was passing by but then the first small hail stones fell down from behind the white birch trees. It felt soft and the world turned white, the air was filled with a pleasant noise and the soft hail stones where falling by thousands, millions and how strange it seems; everything looked more clear, cleaner, sharper, hard to describe. As if nature cleaned a window in spite of all the falling white hails. Perhaps the white color was enhancing the sharpness of my sight. It was beautiful.

BLUE SKY, WHITE SNOWFLAKES - 02-02-2013

Sunrise 08.18 - Sunset 17.30

This morning, in a few spare moments I took the time to gaze at the fresh falling snowflakes, you can’t keep your eyes of them. You follow some all the way to the ground, others you lose in the chaos of white dots. They swirl like a feather or drop like a stone, so different so interesting, so calming.

In the midday, snow was already gone. In the top of some trees more then twenty magpies gathered around a crow. The blackbird wasn’t impressed and was enjoying the sun. The magpies made a lot of noise. Some people think of them as a plague. Perhaps they are because than can do a lot of damage to the young birds and nestlings in spring, but now they are just beautiful but noisy birds.

MELTING WATER

Sunrise 08.24 - Sunset 17.23

Its moist on the dirt tracks. The upper layer has melted and turned into a slippery, muddy substance. Winter has retrieved for a while and temperature has risen to well above zero. You can feel a subtle touch of spring. But make no mistake, winter isn’t far off. Snow is melting, some small areas of white remain on the north slopes of hills. Crystal clear pools of melting water are all around. Small display windows of the world below the surface.

HOAR FROST

Sunrise 08.30 - Sunset 17.15

This day you could experience the growth of hoar frost on trees. In the morning the trees, the branches were clear no ice. During the rest of the morning and the beginning of midday a thin fog arrived and the hoar frost was growing on the branches. An amazing experience. Mostly you wake up and you are surprised by hoar frost but this time it was setting in a few hours, almost in front of your eyes. And just as sudden as it appeared it disappeared. A few hours hoar frost this day.

RAVENS

Sunrise 08.32 - Sunset 17.12

Some days, when temperatures are low, life seems to have abandoned the woods. No birds, no forest creatures and plants and trees are in rest. But luckily some semi domesticated animals still roam the forests. The animals are set free in nature and have to manage even in these harsh conditions. But they do well. It are friendly animals sometimes lonely and sometime in small herds. Once they were wild and belonged here. Perhaps in some decades, some generations they will be wild again…

For the ravens it doesn’t matter what is going on. It is mating season for these beautiful birds and you hear them from a distant. Searching for a partner, claiming a territory.