Monday 22 February 2010

Light on a hill....

Driving home, the other side of Caernarfon, accelerating fast up the hill in the overtaking lane I saw it coming in towards me. Light, the strangest light - moving, swirling, shape-shifting, like oil in a glass of water - and a strong wind gusting, whistled up from nowhere.

I had to have a picture.

So, stopping the car in the lay-by at the top of the hill, struggling out and into the turmoil, blown and buffeted by the wind that cancelled the sound of the speeding cars with its thrump, thrump, thrump, I captured these images – they almost, sort of, do the thing justice. Purple orange light, the light you get just before the storm arrives, but moving, swirling, shape-shifting. And in the ninety seconds that I stood just watching, I felt the temperature take a dive. Then it hit, the ice, slapping my exposed face with its bite. Not rain, or snow, nor sleet, but shards of ice – an ice storm accompanied by rumbling thunder and wide orange-yellow flashes of sheet lightening high above the screaming trees.

And then a thought - suspiciously I looked around. Was she here? I couldn’t see her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be close - behind a tree, beyond that hill. The thing is, you can never be sure with the Ice Queen, she may be beside you without you knowing - invisible. So quickly, so as not to let her into the car, I carefully climbed back in and drove off and down the hill to the ice-free safety of the roundabout below.

6 comments:

  1. Ice storms are often preceded by thunder and lightening, particularly at higher altitudes.

    To find out more contact us at:
    www.metoffice.gov.uk

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  2. Nice piccies. The colours are amazing. Can't wait to get back down to Wales. I really miss it over the winter. Season starts on March 16th so nit long now.

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  3. Hi Kirky - good to see you back my friend. Yes we must meet up when the seasons starts - I have a place in mind.

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  4. Wow!! What a strong landscape! You always see very interesting things!

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  5. I look and when I see I have to record it. Everything is interesting if you look.

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