All night a wild storm had pulled and pushed the world, lifting tiles off the roof and snapping branches from the trees. The storm had a loud cold voice, and the windows had rattled in their frames as the snow fell and the harsh ice took hold. By the morning a hush had fallen along with the branches and tiles, and I walked out into the woods looking for serenity.
There among the fallen limbs and cracked ice I found a pure white peace. Nothing stirred but the memory of the storm, and the sun glittered and twinkled on the frozen water as though there had been nothing to worry about ever. A sparkling serenity filled everything and I breathed out.
Sometimes after a storm, among the debris, a cool serenity sparkles, inviting us to let go. To sweep away the old and nourish what’s left. Out among the trees I found the first snowdrops of the year, bathed in soft low light, filling me with hope for the Spring to come.
breathofgreenair 
Hope all is well with you, Seonaid…and that your absence is because you are super-busy at work. Look after yourself.
Work had indeed stolen my time…but normal service has now resumed!! Thanks for asking Sue. What a lovely place the blogsphere is 🙂
Phew! Just replied to your latest post!
I keep dropping in and out as the Spring time passes Seonaid …
Hoping all is well x
How lovely to find your message when I returned to my very neglected site Poppy…the demands of work have kept me away from wordpress…but I’m once again free and ready to start playing and reading once again….now I jus have rather a lot of catch up reading to do!!
Your message has brightened up a very grey Summer morning here Seonaid !
It’s good to hear you’ve regained some time for yourself once more .
Let the camera roll …and your words flow x
Cooee !
This is what we call out when someone is missing in the wilderness.
I hope that all is well with you.
Cooee back….atlast I return from the wilderness of too much….too many hours devoted to others….thanks for calling me back tree girl 🙂
Cooee!! I back from the wilderness of too much work!! Thanks for calling 🙂
Like restlessjo, I too am wondering how you are Seonaid. Your last post was dated more than two months ago. I too have not been posting much of late but my excuse has been bad weather and not much time for taking pictures. I hope your absence simply reflects a busy life and no more. Looking forward to your return. D
Im emerging back out of the world of too much work and not enough play 🙂 So lovely to find your kind messages David…. hope the summer finds you and Johanne well….?
You know when you’re sliding through your Reader looking for someone and you suddenly think- I haven’t seen… Well, I just did that and I’m hoping that all’s well in your world? Hopefully you’re just busy, Seonaid. Take care! 🙂
Hey Jo…so lovely to find you here after months of extra work and not nearly enough fun….a situation I hope to remedy very soon 🙂
Oh, bless you, Seonaid! So glad to hear from you 🙂 I didn’t like to keep pestering but I have wondered from time to time. You’ve been missed 🙂
That’s such a lovely thing to hear Jo…thank you, and I look forward to some more lovely Monday walks 🙂
Oh, the pleasure of discovering snow drops after such a storm! Softness and sweetness following the roughness and bluster of winter’s last (?) stand.
Snowdrops and snow storms seem so far away now as we creep ever closer to the long light of midsummer….must post up some summer flower images very soon…:-)
So good to see you are back on line, Seonaid. Looking forward to your next posts….
Thank you…its good to be back 🙂
Hope all is well!
Hi Fi….I hope to catch up with your beautiful lake and dog world very soon…work has released her over demanding grip on me…so I have space to play once again 🙂 Can’t wait to catch up with everyones images ……
Fresh and crisp – and snowdrops, the loveliest hope of Spring. Beautiful.
One of my favourite flowers, filled with the promise of spring 🙂
It is – a promise we are longing for! The feeling when the first one dips her shy head towards the grass –
Thanks so much for the beautiful card and warm words Leya….many appolagies for my silence….work has released me and I am free to play again 🙂 Whe do you visit Edinburgh…I must get the dates in my calender for dog walking 🙂
Oh, my sweetest friend, I’m so happy! We’ll be there Sunday 9 only, as my husband made a mistake when booking…So we are there for the tattoo Saturday (arriving Friday night) and then we go back to Sweden Monday 10.
Hopefully we can go for a walk and speak. Do you know how I have missed you? Are the dogs still happy? If there is time maybe we could go see the great horses lit up? Or maybe you have already been there.
The warmest and greenest hug to you and yours – and do you know, I have at least a year off now! If I can manage with less money – I am free!
Snowdrops already?! Wow!! So beautiful!
I know, it’s great to feel that spring is perhaps just around the corner Brenda 🙂
The snowbanks are up to my head around me. Spring doesn’t seem close yet here. 🙂
Beautiful images! 🙂
I love the aftermath of a seasonal storm. It seems to make the world seem so pure and bright again. Life’s storms also have a tendency to clean away the debris and give us a brighter vision of the world too. I love the calming effect. I also love your wise words and your vivid photography. It truly is beautiful as it shows the sparkle of your world. Thank you!
Gwynn I hope you have had a lovely Spring, and are enjoying the extended summer light….
Crisp and bright images shine from the screen …gorgeous and how lovely to see those little snowdrops Seonaid .. they always delight 🙂
As always, your photos are beautiful … your words, evocative
You lyrically describe & your photos show the magic of that perfect stillness. As if the universe is holding its breath. (Another topic: first snowdrops? Oh I envy you — we are months away from that still!)
Always enjoy the balance I find in your writing; that phrase “loud cold voice” rings with me now, sitting here, while snow falls outside.
Those beautiful flowers were Mother Nature’s gift to you for the beautiful words and photos. 🙂
Your fine image of the snowdrops prompted me to see if our few examples are showing under the crab apple tree – and they are! 🙂
Always such a welcome sight in the heart of winter 🙂 Full of resilience these tiny flowers always make me smile….glad yours have popped through.
Oh, I like your words, Seonaid. And the images too…
Thanks Sue….as always the words tumbled from the experience and the images. Delighted you enjoyed the results!
The morning after a snow storm has a very peculiar silence doesn’t it? Beautiful Seonaid.
It does Gilly, and its a silence I love….so soothing and so surreal….as though the whole world just breathed out and stopped to listen!
Sorry about the roof… but the calm after the storm really is beautiful!
The calm aftermath is such a treat, as though everything in nature has breathed out….as for the tiles its fine, a few come off after every strong wind, but they are easily nailed back in. Its an old slate roof, and has been sheltering our house for over a century and a half 🙂
Sparkles.
There can never be too many sparkles 🙂
Exquisite! Another delightful adventure through your lens and words 🙂 Peace . . .
Such generous comment, thank you. It was my first good adventure on my own ( plus dogs of course!) since the holidays, and so it felt extra special. I couldn’t quite catch the magical sparkle of light on the snowy ice no matter what I did though….but great fun trying!
Gorgeous . . . fabulous light and bokeh. Love! 🙂
Thanks Laura, I had frozen wet knees by the time I had caught the light just the way I wanted it!
Cool serenity…what a lovely phrase. And then snowdrops on top of that! Beautiful. These are images I’m going to store away and bring out when I’m feeling hot and bothered and not serene at all.
What a wonderful plan, and yes I can think of days when cool serenity would be a perfect antidote!
Oh my gosh! What a surprise! FLOWERS! How wonderful! This can’t be ‘it’ for your winter …. can it? Wow!
No this will certainly not be it, but snowdrops are always the first flower….and they appear despite hard frozen ground, snow drifts and short days….such clever and delicate signs of hope!
Beautiful photos for the serenity! Love the crisp clear day after snow. Well said about hope, Seonaid!
I love days like that too Amy, and the ground was frozen nice and hard, yet the first snowdrops had pushed through…..such a beautiful source of hope!
I loved your description of the storm’s aftermath, “as though there had been nothing to worry about ever.” I am always struck after a storm by the brilliance of Nature’s recovery. Forgiveness is instantaneous. All is understood, and in understanding, forgotten entirely. Rebuilding is a joy. Fresh sun on the ice is a transcendent beauty. The scattered ice and limbs are the purest form of art…
Michael
Thank you Michael, delighted to hear I captured that surreal post storm calm for you. The debris scattered belies the tranquil serenity!
Thanks for this. I also love a good storm and love to feel the energy in the air, and like you wrote, to sense the serenity after the storm. There is so many good things that God gives us in nature.
Nature is a wonderful gift indeed….something different for us every day 🙂
Seonaid, isn’t it amazing how we always find hope after a storm? Glad you and yours are okay.
I have to confess that I quite like a good storm….as well as the serene aftermath!
Like a fresh breath of crisp air, just what we need in the Rhine Valley at the moment, far too hot for winter …
Thanks Dina, its definitely fresh here at the moment. It didn’t rise above zero today, but it was bright and crisp….just as winter should be 🙂
Beautiful – there is nothing quite like the calm serenity of nature after a huge storm. It’s like the landscape has been cleansed of pent up negativity and detritus.
That’s so true Suzanne, a good clear out can be very soothing once the chaos has settled. It was beautiful among the glittering snow and ice today 🙂
Lovely.
Thanks Mike, It was a beautiful crisp clear day, perfect for walking and photographs!