Summer turns to Winter

The snow duly arrived - big style!

I woke up this morning to see sleet outside but no snow settled on the balcony. That was a bit disappointing. I thought it would have been cold enough to have turned to snow overnight and I'd be witness to that fairytale dusting on every surface and the wonderful softening of sound that usually accompanies that experience. As it was, the wind was still howling and it was freezing cold up in my attic studio. It was hard to extract myself from under the three covers I had the foresight to put over me last night, having been just using the one light one for the last few weeks.

Once I did get out of bed I soon realised that the moor was covered in a good couple of inches of snow, probably more than we've seen at any time all winter. I resolved to take a walk before going into the office. There was a very distinct snow-line, as can be seen in the photo, and once above it you entered an entirely different world. The wind was still blowing strongly and it was bitterly cold. A couple of days ago I was cycling over passes much higher than this in my shirtsleeves. Today it was a case of full mountaineering gear with base layers and down jacket. I love this capriciousness and unpredictability of our weather. I really wouldn't want it any other way.

I had a mind to return to the site of yesterday's daffodil (one of the reasons why I posted that shot) to record the change, but I have to be honest and tell you that I couldn't actually find the spot. By that point I was running out of time to get my train and my hands were numbed with the cold, having taken the mittens off too many times to take photographs. I fear the worst for that flower. All the daffodils in the area were in a rather sorry state, being beaten down to the ground by a combination of the wind and the snow. It was a rather sad sight but I expect you blooms will soon appear. Someone used the word tenacious to describe them and that is quite the perfect description.

There has been some interesting commentary on my journal entries this week in respect to flow. I rather like the concept of the U-bend introduced by Musings Choosings, when creativity emerges out of struggling with a block. I can relate that in relation to blip, when some of my favourite blips have appeared out of nowhere on days when I was really struggling to see anything, until forced into a U-turn in direction. Perhaps true creativity isn't a product of the flow so much as of the block! I need to find some space to think about that one!

Trials and Tribulations also posted a link to a talk by Susan Cain. She's an entertaining speaker, something which, as an introvert, doesn't come naturally to her. Following the book's publication she described this public speaking experience as her year of speaking dangerously. It's worth a watch.

As I write this in the evening, the snow you see here has all but gone. We've gone from Summer in March to Winter in April. The cricket season has just started. I think I'd settle for a bit of Spring for a week or two! Some April Showers perhaps ... or are they a thing of the past in this era of Global Warming?