A Glorious Sunny Winter Day.

I knew I would enjoy today at work. I got up at 4 am and went out the side door to the carport. I looked up, and although it was cold and frosty, the night sky was clear. The moon and the stars looked great. I knew it would be a clear blue yet chilly day. 

It was indeed. I spent the day driving around the Fenland, close to Chatteris. I went to a small village called Benwick. Here, I stopped and drank in the glorious sight of the crisp morning. It felt like Heaven on Earth. I got out my mobile and tried to capture the moments as I walked along the river bank. It felt wonderful to be alive and out on this smashing day. 

I Love the Winter Too.

In bygone days the winter solstice conjured up all sorts of wild myths and beliefs among the Celtic peoples of Britain and other peoples throughout Europe. In the northern parts of Europe, there were vast forests with remote places. The isolated groups that lived in such areas were susceptible to all sorts of suspicions and loved to listen to tales told by wandering bards or other such story tellers.

The surrounding Ecosystems of their realm were hosts to many types of beliefs and the seasons often changed the dweller's concept of the forest areas in magical and mystical ways. Winter being viewed in a completely different way to summer. Each season was celebrated and each solstice was too.

The solstice is celebrated in Britain and has been for thousands of years. There are suspected religious festivals and various stone rings aligned to celebrate such things. We have a summer and winter solstice across the planet and the solstice is opposite either side of the Earth's equator.

Therefore, when Britain, a northern hemisphere country, celebrates its winter solstice on the 21st of December, a southern hemisphere country like Australia will celebrate its summer solstice.

Autumn is Blowing Kisses at Me.

After the lovely summer, autumn seems to be blowing kisses at me when I get up each morning. The darkness is about for around an hour and a half, plus the leaves are turning various shades of bronze and gold. 

The foliage looks very appealing but the chill in the Fenland air lets one know that the beginning of the bleak seasons is upon us.

The fields are now just muddy furrows awaiting crops to be planted in the spring. Soon the flat fenlands will have a hazy mist over the fields with bare trees in scattered lines here and there along the dykes.

This is the time of year that Carole and I book a cruise to the Canary Islands. We start off from Southampton to Madeira and then to the various Canary Islands each day, returning via Cadiz in Spain and Lisbon in Portugal. It is our two-week break that clouds the bleak winter for us.

When we return, it is soon Christmas and from here on, the spring is but a few weeks. Or at least, it seems to be. The last time we were in Grand Canaria, we watched people on the beach playing football in the sand. We also saw a man dressed as Father Christmas sweating because it was still warm. We laughed and made a vow that we'll always cruise in the winter to the Canary Islands, just to break up the monotony of our English winter.