December Snow

Last Friday night was another unseasonably heavy snowfall across the country, and on Saturday morning like everyone else I woke up to a bright white landscape. I know this isn't good news for everyone, but I still find a covering of snow to be a little bit magical. I suppose it takes me back to my childhood and memories of school being closed, the normal rules of life are suspended.

Buoyed by this feeling I decided on a whim I'd take my camera and go for a walk up to the park and round the river. These are places that I've been running through the past year, watching with interest how they've changed with the seasons, but heavy snow is something else again in the way it transforms our everyday surroundings. The familiar is rendered strangely unrecognisable: we can become disoriented as regular landmarks are hidden, while at the same time things that usually go unnoticed are suddenly revealed - or some cases not only revealed but transmogrified.

For example, just what is this?

It's a great opportunity to see the world anew, or at least just a little askew - even the familar Warrington landmarks can look refreshed with a silvery dusting:

As with all magic, the snow also has its dangers: travel can become hazardous and the everyday business of life can be disrupted. It's a reminder of how fragile the structures and routines of our lives really are, and of how little control we really have over them (and I'd rather be reminded of that by something gentle and relatively benign, like snow, rather than say by an earthquake). I think it's telling when people try (quite literally) to plough on when the sensible thing to do is just stop for a while. But if you are able to take time out then the world can suddenly seem like a friendlier and more relaxed place.

So even though I don't know if the snow will cause problems travelling back tomorrow to spend Christmas with my family, I'm feeling quite relaxed - I hardly dare say chilled in fact - about it. And even if all other modes of transport are disrupted, I know now that I might still have options...

Merry Christmas!

Warm weather, suddenly

After several very cold (around 30-40F) but dry days here in New Jersey, last night and today have been wet and unseasonably mild, with temperatures reaching the mid 60s.

It seems really strange to me - back in England you just don't suddenly get spring-like weather in the middle of winter. Nobody else seems particularly perturbed - apparently it's due to southerly winds blowing (relatively) warm air up from the Gulf of Mexico. Maybe they're just enjoying while it lasts, since it's already getting colder again this evening.

In the meantime I thought that I would take advantage of the rain to get some pictures of things reflected in puddles, loosely inspired by M.C. Escher's lithograph "Three Worlds". My photos weren't ever going to be a patch on Escher's original, but it was an interesting exercise and provided an excuse to stop and look at some familiar things in a slightly different way.

The forecast for tomorrow and the rest of the week is more rain, perhaps even snow, which sounds more like winter to me. Perhaps I'm just odd but personally I prefer the colder weather. This warm stuff just doesn't seem quite right in December - and certainly not like it's nearly Christmas!