The cold continues...

...and the low clouds linger over the valleys, keeping the frigid air below. We are well into the third week of constant sub-freezing temperatures. This winter with its weather patterns is immensely tedious and there seems no end to it.

The flat is still cold although slightly less so (the offices were ok, though). But we have bought an electric heater to make the living at least bearable. Now I'm thinking: should I send the bill to our energy provider, or even the Russians, perchance? If it weren't for the bastards, we wouldn't have to spend on the purchase plus the electricity it will use...

I'm so sick of this cold I could scream!

Baby it's cold outside (inside, too)

The photo may look bright but I can assure you it was mighty cold when I took it.

We've been having sub-freezing temperatures ever since Christmas Eve (if my memory serves me well). Anyhow, we're literally frezing and have been for more than two weeks on end with the temperatures dropping as low as -12 C (my converter says that's about 10F) in the capital,and much lower in some more remote areas. Unofficially a temperature of about -46C (nearly -51F) was measured in one spot known for extreme cold, which is said to be an all-time low ever measured in Slovenia (okay, there were probably temperatures as low or even lower before but nobody cared to measure them).

Now, my dislike of all things cold is no secret. I don't like cold and don't stand it well. So I was unpleasantly surprised when the temperature in my flat, which is centrally heated, dropped to below 17C (62F) a few days ago and the situation hasn't improved since. Since the dispute between Russia and Ukraine the pipelines have been closed down and much of Europe has been experiencing shortages in the gas supply. Allegedly, an agreement has been reached but the gas hasn't started to pour in yet (or so we are told). In spite of the authorities saying households wouldn't be affected by the shortage, the central heating provider has apparently reduced the heating in what is proving to be the coldest beginning of year in the last 20 years if not longer.

So, i'm feeling uncomfortable and my nose is beginning to run and there's nothing I can do but rant about it. I HATE cold!

Watch a birdie!

I initially intended to post one of these photos somewhere else but changed my mind. One reason is, I couldn't decide which photo I liked better: the colour or the black and white. So here are both.

There is one other thing, though. I made a rather essential mistake but that was the only way I could shoot this photo in the first place. It is taken in misty weather without any direct light in a city park during my lunch break so there was no way I could have had my fancy camera with me. So, with my compact Canon, I flashed the birdie which somewhat kills the colours of the bird feeder and the background although it enhances the structure of the blackbird's feathers and adds a sparkle in its eye. I tend never to flash at the wildlife, though, but this shot was an exception, and besides, I think the birds were quite used to the light and noise after the New Year's celebrations.

So we have snow...

Not much, it's true, but it's been cold enough here it doesn't melt away. Moreover, the pond has frozen over and the critters of the avian kind have gone, leaving behind only footprints in the forming ice.

Fire in the sky

Well, the longest night is over, and at times our neighbourhood resembled front lines of a fierce battle. But it was pretty, too... not so easy to capture on camera, though. Anyway, I'm posting a few attempts below.

So we have passed that same point again...

Tonight most of the world will have celebrated the end of something and the beginning of something else in a bout of excess.

But what exactly does end or begin at midnight on New Year's Eve? Not very much, I don't think. In the northern hemisphere the sun set a few seconds later than the day before and will rise a few seconds earlier than the previous morning. So what! Everything looks the same, feels the same: the winter sky (grey and dreary for the most part), the cold, the snow (provided there is any); even the headache and that annoying pain in the joints... and yet, everything is in a constant state of flux. The Earth never pauses on its way around the Sun, it simply passes the same point (more or less) in the trajectory.

And yet, humans have resolved to put and end to one cycle, which they call a year - or whatever its equivalent is in any of the existing languages - so they can start another one with a different number beside it with high hopes for something new, different, better... and resolutions, most of which are bound to fail for one reason or another. And even the moment at which one year should end and another begin is not defined unanimously. The Eastern Orthodox Christians adhere to the Julian calendar, and for them the New Year begins on January 14. The Chinese (Lunar) New Year begins any time between January 21 and February 21. Other peoples celebrate their versions of New Year in March or April, or in fact any time during one turn of the Earth around the Sun.

So, I have to admit, all this leaves me somewhat perplexed. Why is it I have to celebrate and be merry tonight of all the nights? Eat and drink to excess? Wish a happy this, that and the other to all and sundry? Why should tonight's toasts and wishes have a special meaning?

I wish the people I care about well all the time, whether or not I say it out loud (or in writing). And yet, I feel the need to wish these special people (and some a little less special) good health and happiness and prosperity during the next Earth's turn on this very evening.

Happy new year everyone!