Spring

A very cold walk along the River IJssel (pronounce Icel).
The floodplains were... flooded.

Originally the frosty period was to last at least two weeks. The country was up in arms about a skating race (200 km on ponds, rivers, canals and lakes; starting in the middle of the night), but it was not to be. It was not to be anyway due to Corona, but the weather gods decided one week of cold was plenty.

Ice skating on a pond in the "English Works".

So, on Sunday, plenty of people managed to get in trouble on or in the ice and by Monday the snow was starting to disappear and the ice was no more.

Like pearl-shaped diamonds, waiting to be collected

You may know I love snow and to see it so sad and dirty and melting is not nice. Mind you, I did manage to get plenty of walks in and even saw some ice skaters. I didn't join them, my skates have long since made their way to a family member who did like to skate and getting out on slippery ice was asking for trouble in my opinion.

The difference in temperature is great though. Last week we had nights with -14 degrees Celsius. This week on some days we are going up to +15, locally even +18 degrees! Those are proper spring/early summer temperatures. 

Find the cat.

I do still wish the snow and cold could have stayed a week or so longer...

All photos were taken during a really cold walk along the River IJssel last Saturday. 

Snowdays

I cannot remember ever having a snowday. And now I have had two in a row. On the Sunday the weather was quite bad: fine snow but hard winds made for very tricky driving conditions. Not that I tried, as work was cancelled before I had gotten in the car. 

I decided that instead I would go for a walk. It was heaving with people who all had had the same idea as me. It was good to be out though and I saw several small birds (robins, tits, sparrows) trying to find some food under the snow. I also saw a hare as it was being chased by a dog. Its owner was calling it back in vain (the dog, not the hare). From what I saw the hare was winning, but then they were out of sight.

On Monday the wind had abated somewhat, but it was still snowing and the company I work for didn't think it a good idea to get out on the road in those conditions. Not for us drivers, not for the passengers. This time I had made it to work though and knew that the main roads were open, but there was still a lot of snow drift happening.

I went back via the storage facility where all my things are most of my things are and dug out my snow boots and several other good things to have in winter. Then I went home, changed out of my uniform and went for another walk. 

This time there were not that many people. Most were working (from home) or in school and I had the place more or less to myself. No hare to be seen this time, but I did see some birds again. Every time I got close to take a photo though, they flew off!

On Tuesday I again made my way to work and this time I was actually asked to do something as well. However, after a short break there wasn't a bus for me to use on a route, so they sent me home with a bus that was nearing empty. 

Today I was off and I did a short walk through the neighbourhood. Tomorrow I am back at work. Perhaps by then services will be back to normal. Most bigger roads are now clear and the bus routes usually get some extra attention.

I haven't built a snowman yet and I have seen very few anyway. The snow was so fine it doesn't really stick nicely. And even though it is below zero during the day, it is already starting to melt once the sun comes out. I did put out some sunflower seeds for the birds though, they just haven't seen them yet I think.

All photos and short video from my walk on Monday

Time flies even faster

1

No, I don't have a cold. Nor is it that cold in the Netherlands. Nowhere near what it should be. Thank you global warming. However, there are places where the temperatures are a bit lower. And me and my parents visited one such place on Sunday.

2

Now, you may remember the sand sculptures we visited during the summer. Beautiful art made out of sand. This time around it wasn't sand however, it was ice. And as you don't want the ice to melt within two days, you make sure it is cold. Very cold. Freezing in fact. So much so, that it was on occasion hard to take a photo as I could hardly feel my fingers!

3

But I managed. The battery held out as well and the photos were (mostly) recognisable. They will pop up during weeks to come, but I thought I would show you some now. 

4

The show was called Travel through Time, which in Dutch sounds a lot better (Rijs door de tijd) as it is a play on words. Either way however, I think the photos tell the story. 

5

Photo 1 is of one of several dinosaurs, but this one was definitely the cutest of the lot. Photo 2 shows cave art by the first humans. It was one of my favourites. Photo 3 is of Stonehenge. We didn't get it immediately, as your eyes focus mostly on the figures of the human and the two pigs either side. 

6

We were not traveling at a snail's pace in any case, because the next period (photo 4) was of the Egyptians and then the Romans. Although to be honest, I am not quite sure what photo 5 should really be about. It's not a Viking as I first thought, perhaps a Gaul (like Asterix or Obelix)? 

7

On we went and straight into the middle ages. Not sure whether they did serve Jägermeister (photo 6) back then, but you could actually buy a drink! My fingers and toes were frozen enough as they were thank you very much. 

8

Someone who wasn't that bothered about cold (ahem) was the lady in photo 7. Witch burning, plague and other nastinesses did not make that an age I would have wanted to live in.

9

Then on it was to the more modern times. Not necessarily better times though, even if Leonardo da Vinci (photo 8), Shakespeare and Rembrandt did their best. A few years on from them and revolutions (photo 9), wars and bloodshed were common place again. 

10

It wasn't only Dutch/European history though. We went across the pond as well: all the way to the Wild West (photo 10). Where there were plenty of hazards like rattle snakes and deserts and Indians. They must have been a hardy bunch.

11

Next period was nearly our own time. Discoveries were made thick and fast, from steam engines to trains to large factories (photo 11) bellowing out thick disgusting smoke and soot. 

12

On we went. And if you thought by now we would have made the place a bit nicer for ourselves: think again. Photo 12 shows you what can so easily happen.

13

Photo 13 is of something a bit more upbeat: the breaking down of the (Berlin) Wall. It hasn't solved everything and probably created some new problems, but the power of the people shone through. 

14

So, what does the future hold? Will it be aliens (photo 14) and space travel? Or will it just be same old same old? 

Unfortunately none of the sculptures had any maker's names, nor did I see them anywhere. So, my thanks to all those talented artists who worked that snow and ice and made all this beautiful art.

Snow

Two colleagues battling the elements

As you know I love snow. And I live in a part of Norway where snow is... let's say... rare. Usually everything around here is drab green and grey during the winter. Today however, it was not. Because today, we got snow!

Not only did we get snow, I had to drive a route through that snow. A route I had only ever driven in a car on a clean clear day. The road was narrow. Bendy. Up-and-downy. With snow? It was an adventure!

The single track road

First however, I had to get to the school. Which was an adventure in itself. Because not only did it snow, there was a lot of wind as well. Blizzard like conditions to make it difficult to see the road. Add to that windscreen wipers that get covered in snow and leaving streaks on the window. I had to stop several times to get rid of the snow and make sure my vision was good again. 

I got there in the end though and picked up a lot of children. Everyone fastened their seat belts and off we went. At a snail's pace! But snail's pace was fine with me on that small and narrow road. I had a small passenger who told me where to go and where to stop and he occasionally got off himself to bang the wipers clear of snow! Brilliant!

I got all the children home in the end and continued to my next school and next trip. And even though the snow made everything look like picture postcards, it also made it quite difficult to drive in. I did get home safely though. With sore shoulders from the strange position, but safe. 

And I still love snow!

Winter in Norway

When Pepperfly and I made our way over to our sledding adventure, it actually snowed in Haugesund. I was a bit worried about that, because when it snows here, it usually snows elsewhere as well and much harder. However, after only one kilometer, the snow had stopped and the roads were clear. Very clear. 

The distance to Sauda from where I live is about 100 km. And along the way there was a worrying lack of snow. Of course we saw it on some of the mountain tops and occasionally a bit further down, but not much more. Were those colleagues in Sauda really right? 

But then we saw snow by the side of the road. Granted, it wasn't much and definitely not enough for sledding, but it was snow. The closer we got, the more snow we saw. And then once we got to Sauda, one colleague actually drove ahead of us to an area where there was more than enough snow to satisfy all those snow wishes I've had lately. Two feet of snow. Easy!

But not only was there snow, there was ice as well (as my poor knee can testify). Everywhere in the mountains, melting snow/ice was dripping down and freezing again once the sun set. Or little streamlets of water that come through the rocks, freeze on coming out. 

There was even a small waterfall that was still going strong, but its spray had caused some severe freezing. In fact, we wanted to see it up close, but the path was just sheer ice and in the end, we had to walk in the main road to avoid any mishaps. 

We were lucky in our choice of Friday though. On Saturday the weather had changed and it was much worse. In Haugesund it was snow, sleet, rain and a lot of wind and I know there was quite a bit of snow on the roads towards Sauda as well. But we had the most perfect day.

More sledding

I hardly showed you any of the photos and even little videos of me sledding yesterday. That has to be rectified of course, so here goes... 

I think the video speaks for itself. Lay on flat board, go down, face in snow... However, our first attempts had been while sitting down on the board. The icy slope was very uneven though and halfway through I fell off. Right with my shoulder on a hard piece of ice. It's colouring nicely as I write this, plus it's more painful than the knee. Ah well, sacrifices had to be made, but after that, I kept to my stomach.

Look at me go! Like lightning (ahem)! After several goes down that slope, the underground had actually become a bit smoother. Which in turn made it harder for me to walk up of course, so several times hands and knees were used. Especially the lowest bit, where there was less ice and more deep snow.

However, the top bit was very steep and unless I made a toe-hold every single time, I would just slip down. So hands and knees it was there as well.

You can see the difference between the icy bits and the snow bits. The snow is lovely and smooth and pristine. The icy snow was actually shoveled over the side of the slope to clear the parking lot and that was much harder.

I was standing up in the snow here and it came well up to my knees. On the right you can see where we tried to go down further, but it was just impossible: 2 feet of fresh snow with a heavy person on top just means that the person goes down and down and down. Into the snow!

Pepperfly was filming and taking photographs from the bottom up and now you can see very clearly the amount of snow I bit in every time. I couldn't seem to lift the front of the board in time, so I had several faces full. This was the worst it got. Mainly because I stopped after this, since everything was wet and/or frozen!

Good thing I wore a scarf as well. That way I could dry off to some degree. 

All in all, it was a perfect day and I haven't even shown you some of the other photos we took of the surroundings and the way to and from. Those are for another day!

Sedate 40+?

According to some, once you have passed a certain age, you need to behave a certain way. I don't really buy that. Just because I am 45 doesn't mean I don't like certain things. And today me and Pepperfly did something I last did in the winter of 1992, when I was only 20. 

Going doooooooooown...

This morning I picked her up early and then we drove for nearly two hours to Sauda, a small community inland where, according to colleagues who live and work there, there was plenty of snow. There we met two of them. One lent us some snazzy looking flat boards and the other showed where it would be perfect to actually use those flat boards. He drove in front of us for nearly half an hour until we were deep into silent snowy country. It was gorgeous!

Pepperfly almost running up the hill again

We got dressed for the snow and then we took the boards for our very first attempt in a couple of years of sledding down a hill! It was brilliant. It was painful. It was cold. It was deep!! But it was so much fun. After our first attempt of trying to sled on 2 feet deep snow, we gave that up and only used the frozen over bit, which was still deep, but easier to sled on, since it didn't give way.

I trudged

After a bit of lunch, we gave it another go. And another and another. In between goes, we lay on our boards, enjoying the sun and its warmth and the quiet. It was so lovely there. We knew however it was over two hours back and we still wanted to take several photos underway as well. 

I may be 45 and Pepperfly a similar age, but we had a great day of 'childish' fun. Of course, a day of fun and activity would not be complete without a fall and while getting our gear back to the car (10 meters, if that), I slipped, fell and hurt my knee on some ice. But the day was great and nobody can take that away...

The video is of my last run down. The photo with me flipping my scarf over my shoulder is taken right after I cleared my face of snow. The scarf was soaking, as were my gloves and the inside of my coat. 

I got it!

The back of the house

As you may have gathered from reading my blog, I do actually quite like winter and I especially like snow. I just love how everything becomes pretty and nice and even. There has been quite a bit of snow in my part of the world, although where I live most of it had melted. 

The front of the house

There were however several places close by that had lots of snow and I knew there would be several great photo opportunities to be had. Since I had only a short shift yesterday, I decided to go to one of my favourite look-out spots and take photos from there. 

Nope, not liking that white stuff

But then... the snow started. And stopped. And started again. And it just kept snowing. Knowing that I would have to drive uphill on a road that was most likely not the cleanest of roads, I decided against driving there and instead go home. Since it was snowing anyway...

Just to please Mara!

Miss Oswin took one look outside and decided that was not for her. Although when I opened the door again she shot out and was probably quite surprised by the snow. I did manage to take some really nice photos before she wanted to go in again (about two minutes). Showing off her Norwegian Forest Cat heritage in all its glory!

The terrible snowman. It felt like it anyway

I had by then bundled up warm and put on my sturdiest walking shoes. I was going for my lap. It wasn't so much hard going, but it wasn't easy either. I hadn't wanted to take my usual camera (either of them) with me, since it would only get wet. Unless I hid it in my coat, which would mean opening up my coat every time! I did however take my iPod with me and that has a photo option as well. 

Look closely, there is a church in this photo!

My walk was nice and I was quite chuffed with myself for venturing out. And by the time I got back, all the tracks I had made in the garden while taking photos of Miss Oswin were covered already! Mad I tell you! The snow isn't to last though. Apparently from the weekend onwards we are expecting temperatures to go into the plus again. 

My favourite photo from my walk