The Lyorn's Den

For the last week, there has been november-y high-pressure weather: Dry, cold, with strange gusts of wind, and a thick ceiling of high fog blocking the sun. To make it more depressing, weather forecasts do not know anything about high fog and forecast "clear and sunny" while one is moving in a perpetual grey gloom. The only way out is up, and that's what N___ and I did today.

As mentioned yesterday, we went to visit I___ at a health resort about 90 minutes drive away. The resort is in a quiet little town in a low mountain range, at about 750 metres above sea level. While we were going there, the light became stronger, the sky whitened, the sun showed as a bright spot, and finally a pale blue sky became visible right overhead.

We walked through some nature preserve forest around a lake. The trees were covered in frozen mist that formed flaky needles of ice, and under the weak sun the ice thawed and every tree was like a rain cloud. On the ground, the raindrops froze again and surrounded every tree with a ring of flaky snow.

The lake was covered in mist still, and mirrored the pale white sky, so it felt like there was a vast cloudy nothing next to us. After some hours, more of the mist dissolved and the other side of the lake became visible.

( Image: N___ and I right in the middle of nowhere )

We had a good lunch, and saw the busy work of beavers all along the shore.

Next part of the walk took us over some open fields in very weak sunshine, and then dusk came, so we went for coffee and cake in the only café in town that was not closed until start of the skiing season.

And then N___ and I drove back in a night which was icy and damp.

Very nice day. The air in the hills was so clean and fresh, and the light was amazing. It was well worth the drive.

Winter might be officially over, but I'm still freezing.

Have a cat picture:

( Mar 2010 Cat pictures )
All these pictures were taken by flederkatz, Mar 1st to 6th 2010.

( Cat gallery behind the cut )
All these pictures were taken by mad_freddy, Nov 1st 2009, and edited by me.

I like rain. Which is good, because, considering how often I have been soaked to the skin in the last week or two, rain seems to like me, too.

OK, so I have a shiny new bicyle (no good images yet [ETA: images after cut at the bottom]) and spend a little more time outside than I would otherwise... but is that a reason why it should start to rain the moment I walk out of the office to have lunch?

Rain is fun, and pretty, and smells good, and is far preferable to summer heat. Especially if you have a dry place to go to at the end of the day, and towels and dry clothes, and a nice cup of tea. Getting drenched always reminds me of my teenage years. All those holidays spent outside, and the long commute to school...

Yesterday I had the first singing lesson since last summer, and of course while I was getting there, a fierce and enthusiastic rain storm turned the street drains into geysirs and the street into a river. Had I been driving home it would have been great, as it was, 'great' got tempered by me dripping on my teacher's carpet for an hour. On the way home, a cool evening sun was shining. 12°C. I like summer that way.

ETA:( Images )

Another Sunday of books and sightseeing. When I was here first, San Francisco seemed gigantic to me, but in fact it's not much bigger than Frankfurt (Main) with regards to population, and only half as large (but much more hilly!) space-wise. Which is strange, because San Francisco has these wide streets every 100 or 200 metres, most of which seem to be lined by small houses. Be that how it may, it means that, if you want to go exploring and are not in a hurry, (and have good shoes,) you can cover a lot of ground walking. ( Read more... )

BTW, here is a spectacular picture of San Francisco. The bridge to the right is the Bay Bridge. In the high resolution version you can clearly see the Golden Gate Bridge in the centre of the picture.

ETA: Now with images! Thanks, Marc!

It's strange how things you learned as a kid shape your perception of how the world "should" be. Germany rises North-to-South, from the sea to the beaches, marshes and flatlands, then hills and higher hills and finally mountains. And that's still how I expect things to be. Mountainous seashores never cease to amaze me. So, as a glimpse on any map can tell you, in California I find a lot of amazing places.


( Read more... )

ETA: Now with pictures!