Blissful Snow

The snowfalls the last few years in London have been puny and weak; but all of this city and much of southeast England ground to a halt yesterday as buses stopped running, trains and underground services were severely disrupted, cars skidded all over the place, and pedestrians slipped about like Bambi on ice. I awoke yesterday morning to a scene from a Christmas card: snow atop of every surface, and still falling from the clouds and settling everywhere. Nobody had been outside, not even the cats, so the snow was as pure as could be. I wrapped up warm and went outside, regressing 15 years to my childhood. Snow is the best anti-depressant there is, all worries evaporate and fall back down as joy in hexagonal crystalline form.



The view down the path to the rear section of our garden, before being spoiled by footprints.



The holly bush, which you can see in the right of the first photo, was a nice opportunity for some macro photography.



The magical scene which awaited as we passed the "middle section" of the garden. The snow here was thicker and crunched blissfully underfoot.



I wish I knew what the tiny plant in this tiny plant pot was thinking when it was buried in several centimetres of powdery, fluffy snow.



Rain and water from the gutters crystallised into stalactite-like icicles. One such spike was gigantic in size, hanging from an ivy leaf, and tasted like ice-cold bottled water (the ice in this part wasn't from the gutters!)



The snow covered almost everything that wasn't properly sheltered: this hosepipe-winding contraption looks like Santa Claus... !



The blackbird with revolving wings was frozen in motion, although he seems to be waving at us. Yes, all that snow is on his head.



Mr. Blackbird's relative, Mr. Peacock, was similarly snowed under.



This is me on the rear lawn, about to create my first snow angel...





Alright, I went a bit heavy with the feet, but I liked the way it turned out

Here's to more snow-filled British winters, and boo to hot sticky summers!!