Sunday 5 February 2012

WHITE ON WHITE


This winter is supposed to be a mild one, but weather conditions far too the East have put a stop to that: a mighty High over Siberia has stretched its wings to cover most of continental Europe, with some tendrils even reaching as far north as Stockholm.

When I woke up this morning, around 8 am, serene stillness was reigning over Hammarby Sound. White ice greeted white sky slowly turning pink, and the Sound was completely frozen over. The sun had not yet risen over the horizon, but soon it would appear to shed more warmth over the scenery. It was Sunday morning and no large boats had been trafficking the strait since Friday afternoon, preventing smaller boats from daring the thrip.

Whilst bathing in that white and peaceful splendor, I spared some thoughts for less fortunate people down south. Apparently, temperatures in the minus tens have been prevailing for some time as far south as the Balkans, leaving people down there wide open to the travails of extreme frost. Whilst these poor Southerners are freezing (some even to death) in their barely sheltered lodgings, here in Hammarby Sound we barely notice that it is minus 18° outside this white morning. My apartment is keeping a constant healthy 21° inside, whatever temperature may be hounding the air over the Sound.

Whilst I am contemplating this, time has passed and it is now already 9 am. The sun has briefly won over high fog and is shedding its splendor over the ice. Time to come to closure with this blog and hurry outside, to benefit from clear frosty air on my nose and ears!


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Emil,
Lovely pictures on your blog of wintry Stockholm. I hope that the cold does not become too extreme. Here in California, we are having a strange dry winter with very little rain -- usually this is the rainy season. Keep warm so that you can continue sending fascinating posts of Sweden and Karelia!
warm regards,
Lillian

Eva said...

Dear Emil,
You were quick to be able to catch the beautiful frosty trees on the other side of the sound, after a couple of hours this lovely sight was all gone!
You do not often see the sound covered by ice in this way - this morning the ice was broken by some passing ships.
Kind regards
Eva

Lars Jonung said...

Hej Emil
Vacker bild som vanligt. Idag var vi på Kvasa utanför Kivik. Där fanns vackra isformationer längs stranden. Vildare än i Stockholm.
Hälsar Lars

Alice said...

Lieber Emil,
der weiße Winterbilck aus deinem Fenster ist mir inzwischen dank deinen Fotos ganz vertraut. Es kommt mir vor ich wär dort schon oft gewesen! Irgandwann letzten Winter, gab es die riesigen bedrohlichen Eisschollen zu sehen. Jetzt scheint die Kält förmlich aus den Fotos zu entweichen. Hier in Salzburg haben wir auch so zwischen - 18 bis -20° und unser Hund verweigert lange Spaziergänge. Gestern ist noch dazu das Heizwerk Salzburg Mitte für viele Stunden ausgefallen. Aber in Polen, wo der Jan jetzt ist, gehen die Temperaturen bis auf -28° und vorläufig ist auch keine Entspannung in Sicht. Leider gab es dort auch schon viele Kälteopfer.
Liebe warme herzliche Grüße aus der warmen Stube

Alice/ Salzburg