Day 351 - Freeze

Logs caught in the early morning sunlight

Low sunlight penetrates the forest

Auchalderkopf

If your heating is going to pack up you can be sure that it will do it when the weather is at its coldest. (Murphy's law) And that is just what my heating decided to do on Monday as the temperature hovered around –5C. Three days later the lounge room temperature reads 4 degrees and I am trapped in one room with a small electric radiator that struggles to keep pace with the freeze. On the plus side, because for every minus there is a plus, the fridge needs no electricity and I can leave milk and stuff out without fear of it going off. This morning it is –6C but thankfully it’s a glorious sunny start with a clear blue sky and I am soon tramping over the frozen snow, which is like walking on bumpy polystyrene. The sun is warm on my face and high in the trees the melting snow falls to the ground in small blobs. On the shaded icy tracks however the frozen ground will not be thawing quite so quickly.

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Mars is close to Earth at present and will not be so close again until 2016. With clear skies here on Sommerberg it should be a perfect opportunity to see the red planet with the naked eye. Yesterday I think I saw a giant rabbit hopping along one of the canyons. Of course if you live in Bad Wildbad you will probably need a telescope.