Snow and opera hibernation

I have nothing particularly operatic to comment on right now but I thought I would share a few snow pictures, since I have been hunting for good ones for years, what with usually being parked in London at this time of the year.

Although snow was supposed to have come down hard for the past week, it only happened since the day before yesterday afternoon. Yesterday I went for a hike in the woods and it looked like this:

I walked all this way to see the hill come out of the fog

I am a sucker for the winter colour palette and fluffy, heavy snow in general:

is that rooster cosy or what?! Maybe that baubles obsession does not feel so odd when this kind of image pops up often enough in real life.

Since London does not have this kind of wooded hills:

the beckoning edge of the woods

The woods are quite dense and the terrain is rough, though I do not think you can easily get lost (turn around and down and you are back in town). There was good number of other people (couples, mostly) about. Around here hanging out in the woods, regardless of weather, is very common. There is little else to do 🙂 That being said, the strong and fresh air and the specific quiet of the woods (even with other people around, birds cawing, dogs barking like the house is on fire) was out of this world invigorating. Whilst I was there I wondered if there is anything better in life than the woods during a snowfall. Today is a gorgeously clear, cold day, yet I am still wondering.

Back to town:

what I call our local winter pastime, snow skating 😉 who needs ice when snow falls down in chunks?!