WINTER (2)

This morning I woke up to a white world, gently falling snow and bitter cold. It is not supposed to snow in Denmark in November; but it is icy up in Northern Norway and Sweden at the moment (minus 21C in Kiruna this week), and that is affecting us here. With a strong easterly/north-easterly wind, it is not pleasant to be outdoors.

Whenever snow comes, people seem to be unprepared. There is a frantic rush to change from summer to winter tyres, the number of traffic accidents skyrockets, drivers get stuck in their cars. It is almost as if it has never happened before.

I kept warm this afternoon by bashing out an old concrete pigsty in the barn with a sledgehammer. With temperatures set to stay well below zero for at least a week, I expect I will be doing more of that sort of thing.

Walter Blotscher