White Cone Of Wisdom

Lots of snow this winter - as always, a blessing and a curse. Salt is already sold out and it will probably stay cold for another few weeks. Hmm ... too bad for Sabine who finally had her hip operation in early December, fortunately with good results so far, and will have to run around with crutches for another two months. No taking walks outside under these circumstances! Falling would be the last thing she could use now. She copes with having to stay inside surprisingly well, mostly.

This morning, I shovelled some snow while it was still dark. It had snowed in the night and Sabine's taxi was about to come to collect her and drive her to her rehab.

After she was gone, I looked out of the living room window. Dawn was coming and everything was blue and grey and very quiet. The world looked extremely delicate and fragile for a moment. After that, it continued to be simply very beautiful.

We prefer the summer but winter has its own magic. A friend from Melbourne expressed her envy on seeing the photo of me shovelling snow - apparently they never get snow there in winter except on the mountaintops. We feel very privileged to live in a place that has a wide variety of climates over the year.