The start of the cold season has truly started when there is frost on the ground and I have to scrape the windows of the car. Well, I shouldn't have to scrape the windows much these days as I have a garage and an engine warmer, but the garage is full and the key to start the engine warmer was in the car, which kind of defeats the purpose.
After dropping Smallsteps to daycare and before my first session for the day started, I grabbed a few pictures before my fingers froze. The weather has been relatively warm this Autumn, so minus three Celsius seems really cold - minus twenty five is going to be horrible.
While I was exploring the garden, I was surprised to find a couple of strawberries that were near ripe, though now were frozen solid, so won't be so great to eat. Mid-October is definitely not prime strawberry season, but the color was welcome, since most of the garden is nearing the winter hibernation period, with most of the leaves fallen and nothing new growing.
The mint seems to still be growing a little, but I am lpretty disappointed in it, as I didn't make even one mojito in the summer, which was the whole reason for having mint in the first place. We did add it to some homemade rhubarb punch for Smallsteps' birthday, which was great - but no mojito.
There is something I find calming about the frosty mornings, perhaps because they are generally so still and the dusting of ice subdues and powders the colors, like the desaturated scenes from a depressing period film depicting the 1930s.
They say there are 10 million Finns in Finland, 5 million summer Finns and 5 million winter Finns and I have found this to be pretty much true, as the collective mood subdues and turns a little grayer and negative. People tend to look at the ground a lot more as well, which makes it all a little more reflective and perhaps people realize how empty their own lives are - until the sun returns and they can drink on the terraces and drown their sorrows from the colder months, while fearing their return the next season.
There is still a little bit of color around, if looking on the ground - which means I have to rake the last of the leaves from the grass when I have a chance, so that the lawn doesn't get suffocated.
I don't get depressed in the winter, though the dark times when there are no leaves on the trees, no snow on the ground and all light is absorbed into the damp abyss, isn't the most pleasant time of year. It is more the inconvenience of it that annoys me the most, as the dog ends up needing to be washed every time we take him outside and driving isn't enjoyable.
When all the plants seemingly die each year, it is a reminder about the cyclical nature of life and how no matter how full of life something was, everything has its time. The seeds of tomorrow are planted today and while they appear dead, they are just biding their time for the right conditions to start their journey, a new cycle.
I am hoping that next year will be better than this, though I do not let my hopes get to far ahead of me these days, as with so much dependent on other people who are seemingly driven solely by fear and a quest for stability at any cost, disruption and social instability seem to be the new normal. Perhaps average people have lived in a period of relative calm for long enough that they no longer know what a real threat to life is.
But everything has its cycles.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
It's a funny thing... every time we arrive at a new season, I feel like it's my "favorite time of the year," which I suppose goes to show that there is great beauty in all seasons, if you're just willing to pause for long enough to notice.
It's getting colder here, but we haven't had frost yet... which is fine, as we still have tomatoes trying their best to turn red before the season is really over. It won't be long, though... I have been watching the snow level slowly descend down the mountains across the bay from us.
I am also loath so make statements of the "next year surely HAS to be better than 2020" nature, because if one thing seems to hold true it is that uncertainty rules supreme, these days. Maybe, indeed, people have gotten too secure in their feelings of calm and stability...
Lovely photos!
There is beauty in each, but I am not sure if the "dark times" are part of autumn or winter - or just a nameless void :)
Next year should hopefully be a little more comfortable for us as most of the renovations will be over, fingers crossed. Then, it will be a glass house project so that we can grow some tomatoes of our own.
I do think that a lot of life's instability these days is driven by a lack of understanding and experience in society. We tend to focus ever more heavily on the irrelevant and absurd.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.I love the photo of the mint with the white dust on it. Too bad you couldn't even make a mojito. I would send you some if I was sure it will get to you fresh.
Maybe it would be better to come for a long weekend and have the mojitos here 😁
We had heavy rain again last night but today it's a beautiful sunny day and the temp is starting to rise again, you can already feel it's chilly in the morning but perfect for cycling.
I did enjoy a mojito at the neighbors place, but I was looking forward to a little of my own :)
Deal!!
What is the temperature there at the moment?
I will answer the first comment - Yeah, I can do that temperature at the moment :)
I guess the fork is playing around with the temperature 😂
I thought you were just rubbing it in that I live in a place that is 20 degrees cooler :D
18º right now
18º right now
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.Thankfully the heat is back over here and we are slowly creeping into the 30 degrees Celsius.
Another month will see us into the 40s and then the battle starts, as we will be approaching the 50s. Times when you can fry an egg on a rock lol.
You have some excellent photos here and one can feel the cold. Maybe you should start thinking about a different storage place for the stuff in the garage?
You seem to enjoy the hot weather - at least more than me. I am pretty "hot-blooded" it seems, which means in winter I prefer to sleep with the window open, but I am no longer allowed :D
At the moment, the stuff in the garage will mostly be moved inside once we have some space. What is blocking the car is renovation materials and equipment, which will slowly be removed as we progress. The garage will be pretty empty later. :)
Ha, no my friend and here's a surprise as I also prefer winter. My best operating temperature is 23C and as the temp creeps up to the 50s, so my energy wanes.
We don't go below zero here in winter and in the sixes and the nines I can walk around with my camera only wearing a shirt, so it is the opposite as now in summer I have to cover up, else I get what they call heat hives on my skin. The condition started in 2012 and only Cortisone pills can control it.
Yeah, I figured that was the problem and it was the same with my own previous house renovations, so I added a second garage. At first it was just a carport that I added next to the existing garage to cover the car, but eventually I broke trough the existing garage wall and turned it into a double garage. The added section made for a great tool room.
From experience I can tell you that there are very few empty garages around, as people always stash things in them lol.
23 sounds about right for me too.
I wear a T for as long as I can so that in the winter, I don't have to rug up like an Eskimo! :D
We won't add any new structures yet - other than the deck and the small glasshouse.
I fear if we ever have to move again :D
Sorry for the late reply here my friend. Glitches and things!
We a similar in trying to last as long as we can in winter, but when the camera struggles to zoom in the cold, then it's time to go the Eskimo route.
You hopefully have a long future there and will have plenty of time to decide on any more additions. Let's hope that Hive will be on top of the boards one of these days :)
Yes, I have also seen how guys stash their garages and some guys even build platforms in the roof of the garage for extra storage space lol.
Try not to think about moving again until you turn 90 as then it will be time to scale down hahaha.
A very beautiful collection. After such photos, I also wanted my temperature to drop below 0 degrees Celsius.
Cheers - How is the weather there now? I am guessing it is getting pretty cold.
I have rain and sun, the temperature is about +18
I am dying to meet the snow, here in Rep Dom the seasons are almost the same... there is always heat, humidity... well, life in the tropics.
And the strawberries, hahaha you can make juice with them even if they are frozen. I loved the pictures tho.
In my house they also tried to sow mint, but it didn't even germinate, so sad.
I am from the tropics myself - wet season - dry season :D
Mint is pretty easy to grow I think, perhaps start from a more mature plant?
Always wet season 😂
Well, i imagine it would have worked better that way, but my dad already gave up on planting food few years ago, now all the pots have flowers.
Was it really that bad of a year? In 2019 you were in an Apartment, today, bitching about, (not really), no room in the garage for your car because of stuff. Today you were able to walk around you semi frozen yard and get some nice reflective on life picture, (I think that strawberry is still eatable).
Sitting on a balcony where you can see others sitting on a balcony, I guess could be nice, but sitting on a deck where you can watch leaves bud, grow, fall, or where you can watch smallsteps play in the dirt, or in her new house, was 2020 really that bad of a year?
Still I know what you mean, and 2021 may be a better year.
It is what the garage is full of that is the issue :D
2020 hasn't been a bad year for stuff - but it has been a hard year in many other ways, as that stuff has required financial obligations and the year went from promising to very difficult fast. The furlough from one job wasn't too long, but my own business is still suffering and at one point, was driven to near zero and I thought I would lose it completely. With all the other various concerns at the same time, it has been more difficult than a few other years, less difficult than a couple. We have managed through it so far though, so there is that :)
At the rate of dysfunction, I don't see 2021 being any better.
I don't know if the news story was real it was after all in the Daily Guardian or some name like that newspaper, that people were not going to be able to vacation in Australia in 2021, seems silly to me, but governments have gone bonkers this year.
Beautiful closeups. I can feel the chill out here :)
Stay warm!
Que hermosura de fotografías! Se puede apreciar a plenitud la textura de las hojas, las fresas.... Sencillamente extraordinario.
Thank you.
Hey Taraz nice to see you at Photography Lovers community. Your photos are awesome!
Nice way of catching nature with your camera. It is getting cold and I am one of those who doesn't like this time of the year very much. Anyway I like how we still have kind of four seasons here in Slovenia.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos and hope to see your around soon again.
Thanks for dropping by - I have never been to Slovenia, but I hear it can be quite beautiful there.
I will try to remember to use the community more :)
Does your Smallsteps spend a long time in day care?
I felt like an adult woman with blue eyes like the lake of Smallsteps. She seems mature for her age because she has been with non-parents for a long time.
Her eyes looking into your room seemed to watch you carefully. She seemed to recognize the difference between others and her parents.
Has winter already begun in Finland? Would Finland be colder in winter for a man born in a warm tropical climate?
She is 4 years of age and spends the day there, while parents work. She enjoys it and there is a lot of activities they do, plus the daycare is surrounded by forest, so they have trips into explore nature.
She is probably mature for her age because she lives an anologue life (no screen time or gadgets) with parents who give her responsibilities and discuss things with her. :)
Winter hasn't begun here yet - it is still quite warm. Winter starts more toward Christmas time usually, when the temperatures are always minus. Where I live, the coldest it usually gets is mine 25 - but very rarely, it can get to minus 35 too.
I don't think it is colder for me, if anything, I deal with it better than most Finns. It is an attitude difference perhaps.
Not that it's nearly that cold here but literally the only thing I hate about winter is the cold and the only thing I hate about summer is the flies, everything else is great XD
You know what's said about those people. I wonder about all the other people though and how that affects things o_O
Ah... the flies. Something I don't miss. They have them here and people complain, but they have no idea.
I feel like we are creating a chasm of worlds, with a lot of daylight (or darkness) between us. Health is a good example - the majority of the world are soon to be obese, while a small percentage at the top will be extremely healthy. What happens to opportunity?
I love the pictures that you took! The frost looks like sugar coating. There is a sort of calmness in the cold mornings. The air, the atmosphere. A good time to inhale the cold air and start the day fresh
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.A lot of people don't, but it is easier if one enjoys skiing or snowboarding :)
scraping windows sucks. THe first time I did it, it was enjoyable novelty ---- no more. :D