Frozen in time
(Frozen leaf: Glasgow, UK)
As I wandered across Glasgow today to meet friends, I noticed that the snow here has frozen completely, making walking anywhere at all completely and unreasonably dangerous. As I was walking down a hill towards a main road, I slid, completely out of control for about a metre just at the point where the two streets converged. It was a horrifying moment and I spent the next few second recovering at the crossing. Adrenaline had kicked in and I felt that hot rush of fear spreading up through my body at the moment when I thought I might fall. To fall in snow is one thing – it can be an enjoyable and liberating experience to fall without fear of spinal injury or a nasty buttock bruise, but slipping on a patch of ice and clinging to a railing is an altogether more dismaying prospect.
One of the less chilling elements of the ice takeover is the beauty of it – I love seeing how it preserves things, from water stalactites dripping from gable ends to the leaves embedded in pondwater. This one was lying in wait for me, stretched out and escaping the wondrous sunshine that Glasgow has been enjoying during my brief Edinburgh excursion. If it isn’t snowing, it is invariably glorious sunny weather with crisp light that allows normally hazy city views to become sharpened, as if brought into focus by a lens.
– Today Rosie is with her family in Glasgow –
