GREY SKIES DRAPING HALLOWEEN

This morning was a bonus event. Awaking slowly around 8 AM I slouched into the living room to start brewing my breakfast coffee, when it dawned on me that I actually was an early riser.  I had managed to get up at 7 AM wintertime! To celebrate the hour gained, a picture was taken from my balcony as usually.

At our Northern altitude dawn is ever encroaching on the day. Soon it will be dark when rising at this time in the morning.  Furthermore, if the weather is mild and the wind slow, late autumn is ”blessing” us by covering the sky with a foggy veil, announcing the impending winter with grey days that seem to last forever. This nice day of Halloween is no exception to the rule. The morning was starting in grey and the sun will not be allowed to show itself for another day or two.

To finish this post on a more positive note, last week a relative of mine paid me a visit. Upon entering the apartment she took a look at the scenery below my windows and exclaimed: “Emil, you have to take a picture of the view immediately!” Of course, I hastened to oblige her and you can see the result below. I have to compliment Maj’s photographic eye. A pity she doesn’t have a camera to embody her visions.

GOSH! IT'S STILL OCTOBER, ISN'T IT?

Life here in Stockholm is full of surprises! Today I woke late and sat down by my laptop immediately to deal with some urgent e-mails. One thing led to another and it was almost 10 AM before I closed my trusted MacBook Pro and started to get ready for another day.

A big surprise awaited me in the living room and made me rush for my Nikon immediately. Outside, the wind was howling around the building, snow was slushing onto the windows and an ice-cold stream of air almost threw me back when I opened the door to the balcony. This did, of course, not prevent me from venturing outside and firing off some quick shots of Hammarby Sound. If the picture above looks a bit unsharp to you, this is due to the snow gushing by the lens in the near distance, trying to garble the view of the distant scenery.

You may recall that I had predicted some serious autumn storms, expected to round up a year of climatic excesses. No storm in sight yet, I am afraid. Instead, we got this early snow tempest in late October! Fortunately, this calamity did not last for long. By mid-day, most of the snow had already melted away and the clear October weather re-inforced itself. In late afternoon, the pre-mature winter interlude was all but forgotten, letting the autumn foliage present its splendour once again, maybe for the last time this year.