Return of the Snow Years

After some years with virtually no snowfalls at either end of the year, the time when snow once used to fall unfailingly, the old pattern has returned and this past winter duly brought us snow, as it has done in the last few years, though never on the scale of a few notorious winters in the 1960s and 1970s. We're also getting very low temperatures and for lengthy periods, uncharacteristic for the time of year. It would seem that global warming has brought us local cooling, indeed, local freezing. The more global warming the planet gets, the colder the weather gets here!

In no time the street and our gardens were transformed into a winter wonderland of snow. It started coming down in the late afternoon, as the light was waning, intensified and carried on through the night. When I looked out of the window in the early morning with an air of expectation, I was not disappointed. There was already a thick white blanket of crisp snow covering everything and it was still coming down.

The amazing thing about snow is that it alters the nature of sound once it begins to settle. It muffles everything, so that sounds are quieter and gentler, even on the traffic-laden roads. In my back garden an eerie silence took hold, it was almost like another world where everything was muted, and the thicker the layer of snow got the more marked was the silence. It felt other-worldly.

It continued to snow into the afternoon. The sky was a mournful grey, which added to the feeling of 'other-wordliness', a strange surreal landscape that could not fail to leave you broody and sullen. From my desk where I worked I was able to look out of the window and watch it all happening and from time to time I could not resist opening the window slightly and breathing in the cool fresh air that was so invigorating.

As evening fell, it was all over. Everything was still and a piercing cold reigned. The next morning was a vista of white but there was no fresh fall of snow. However, the fallen snow was to linger on for some days to come, gradually turning into slush and ice or disappearing altogether. The side-roads and pavements became treacherous with ice and now we only wished that it would all go away! Our gardens and parks, however, continued to slumber under their largely undisturbed covering of snow for a few more days and the inevitable snowman suddenly sprung up in the nearby park.

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner that I hate London town... just kidding, it's really more of a love-hate relationship. There are some things which are very much associated with London, or at least with the British way of life, which I have a soft spot for, and two of these are our famous red phone booth and our equally famous red bus. In the above picture you can see both of these street denizens although the bus is just a blur in this photo and seems to be whizzing past at breakneck speed, but I'm sure it's just a photographic effect created by a moving object. The red bus and the red phone booth, both powerful symbols which immediately identify the country in which they are to be found.

Every picture tells a story, as they say, and creates an impression over and above its mere content. Every image has its own special 'feel'. And when the picture is a photo of something personally witnessed or experienced it brings back memories of the occasion every time it is viewed and often sets off a whole train of thought. Every photograph taken or picture created relates to a specific time, place and context and creates an effect on the viewer, though not necessarily the same one, since we all have our own perspective on things.

And hence the title of this blog of mine. Images posted here will be accompanied by a commentary outlining memories or thoughts or feelings which they evoke in me. These may coincide with yours or most likely differ but everyone will surely have his or her own take on the theme depicted and perhaps be reminded of a similar occasion or event. Our past is memories and the future is an unknown emptiness. As soon as it becomes known, it is no longer the future but the present. But both the past and the future exert a strong pull on us and influence the way we behave. The images in our mind from the past and the images we foresee of the future direct our steps in the present. Our memories appear to us as pictures and our pictures are full of memories because... quite simply... memories are made of this.