Snow fell heavy on this Permaculture smallholding in the West of Ireland today and suddenly we were back in the midst of winter.
The light changed, as the reflective quality of the snow worked it’s magic.
“Is it snowing where you are? All the world that I see from my tower is draped in white and the flakes are coming down as big as pop-corns. It’s late afternoon – the sun is just setting (a cold yellow colour) behind some colder violet hills, and I am up in my window seat using the last light to write to you.”
― Jean Webster
For some childlike reason, it fills the heart with hope and delight, as though there is something else just waiting around the corner!
Walking over to the polytunnel, I felt a lightness in my step.
Inside the tunnel there remained an early Spring, untouched by the snow and ice, with vegetables and herbs waiting to be harvested.
“So all night long the storm roared on:
The morning broke without a sun;
In tiny spherule traced with lines
Of Nature’s geometric signs,
In starry flake, and pellicle,
All day the hoary meteor fell;
And, when the second morning shone,
We looked upon a world unknown,
On nothing we could call our own.
Around the glistening wonder bent
The blue walls of the firmament,
No cloud above, no earth below,—
A universe of sky and snow!”
― John Greenleaf Whittier
Clumps of green, like this native Sedge, rise up from the snow, providing lots of shelter and warmth for birds and small mammals, especially on these cold, late winter nights.
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Snow changes everything!
Even the light on the veranda, as the snow on the roof encloses the space.
Meanwhile, indoors, Charlie is watched over by a curious fox…a present I received recently.
All is brighter in here too as the reflected light illuminates a shadowy cottage.
It is in consideration of the bird life all around Bealtaine Cottage that I deliberately keep the cats indoors, especially in the morning and early afternoon.
It’s easy to encourage them to do this by simply feeding them a large meal and allowing them to doss at leisure!
As the evening draws in, the real snow magic begins to manifest…
Night time across a snow covered landscape emits a strange light.
“A few feathery flakes are scattered widely through the air, and hover downward with uncertain flight, now almost alighting on the earth, now whirled again aloft into remote regions of the atmosphere.”
― Nathaniel Hawthorne
These are special evenings, when the urge to walk in a snow covered land is pressing.
No torch to light the way, for one can see for miles around.
The low energy light from the cottage emits an otherworldly glow.
Magic…
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