Prelude To Spring

Funny that I'm still clinging to the last days of winter when spring is already in full swing. But this is something I would like to store in my cyber journal. 

I mentioned in my previous entry that I wasn't ready to embrace the spring yet because I still waited for the day when all those trees would be coated with thick frost under a blue sky. Well, that day came right before the official spring. The sky was indeed blue in our city, but we went to a village in search of something better. It turned out that the sky was overcast there, though the frosts were much thicker.  And I was still thankful for this treat, which is one of our Creator's gifts of beauty.

And so I'm heaping up here new treasures that I've gathered on this pre-spring period when my wish came true.

Along the city  river,

"From whose womb did the ice emerge,

And who gave birth to the frost of heaven....?"

- Job 38:29

In a village,

There happened to be an ice-fishing competition in that village where we found so many participants, groups of families and friends, sitting and walking around the frozen bay.

On our way back home, I took snapshots of these,

Here ends my winter chronicles. I'm drawing the curtain down and officially saying goodbye to this season, for the time being. 

In just a few months, Mr. Jack Frost is back again.  Year in, year out.

"As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall never cease."  - Genesis 8:22

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Riverside Winter Scenics

I'm still singing of winter though spring is already chugging along. Before the vegetation will awaken fully, I'm going to store more of my winter memories in this cyberhome of mine. 

This time, I want to put together sceneries along the city river that I have collected with my camera in the course of winter. 

One of the recent edifices that I keep photographing in different seasons is the Culture House (Väven). This is how it looks like in winter.

Close to the Culture House are these:

Some residential homes and places for leisure-walking:

two different focal points

Evening scenics from both sides of the river in early winter:

Part of the river close to my work place:

I also want to attach a few photos of other parts of the city that I love to look at in winter.

This one's responsible for the city's heating system by recycling the city's garbage to generate heat, thus providing every household with warm water and heater in winter. The smoke is normally almost transparent, but the glow of the setting sun gives it color.

This is the ceiling of a new shopping mall, called Utopia.

This lighted huge umbrella at the middle of a shopping center also attracts me.

Actually, these are just a few of the hundreds of pictures that I have taken, just enough to refresh my memory of this season in this section of time stream.

Have a great week ahead!

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Treasures of Winter Skies

Spring equinox this year came in March 20 with a sun halo gracing the sky that morning. It was a fair day, not so sunny, but the presence of the sun halo declared that the air was saturated with ice crystals. And then came a snowfall in the afternoon, which lasted for two days.

No sign of spring, botanically, is in sight at this time since the ground is still blanketed with snow. But the touch of the breeze and the warmth of the sun herald the obvious arrival of spring.

So, while waiting for the awakening of the perennials that hibernated in the soil and the rebirth of the foliage, I'm going to perpetuate some treasures of the sky that I gathered through the course of winter. This blog will be followed later by other natural events that have impacted the life of this creature who thrives blissfully among the wonders of the universe.

Note: you may click on each picture for enlarged viewing.

The oval disk of the sun at midday

The sundogs and sun halos

The sun shining through the haze

Captured through a misty car windshield

Cloud formations

Early sunsets

Sunrise as viewed from our bedroom window

Out in the open fields and a frozen river

"Raise your eyes high up and see. Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing."  (Isaiah 40:26)

At night, the northern lights frequently illuminate the darkened firmament

The diverse shades of the night sky, all taken from our balcony

the heavenly luminaries:  the moon, the stars peering through the stratus clouds and through the trees

The phases of the moon

the full Cold Moon of December 25

"If I say:  'Surely darkness will conceal me!

Then the night around me would become light.

Even the darkness would not be too dark for you (God),

But night would be as bright as the day;

Darkness is the same as light to you.'"

(Psalm 139:11,12)

Have a wonderful weekend, dear readers!

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