The last two days of November have seen the first low level snow of the winter. Thick snow turning the land white and plastering the trees. A great change in what has been a mild autumn so far. Usually there's at least a dusting of snow long before now.
The first snow fell overnight and into the morning and then faded into occasional light showers. Underfoot the crisp snow crunched. Bands of snow-heavy clouds swept across the sky. Bands of mist drifted over the forests. The trees were lightly and delicately decorated with thin snow.The air was sharp and cold, below freezing.
The last day of the month the snow was heavier, wetter and stickier, lying thickly on the trees. My boots no longer crunched but sank silently into the soft whiteness.
On both days there was little colour in the landscape. The world was grey and white. Looking closely at some of the trees the last leaves glowed gold and lichen on the branches seemed startlingly green. Move away and this colour soon dissolved into the greyness.
Heading up a field as more snow began to fall I caught a glimpse of brightness up ahead. The sun appeared hazily through the storm, turning the clouds round it a soft orange. I hurried up the field as quickly as I could (which wasn't very fast on the snow-covered rough ground) for a better view of this unexpected light. Within a minute it had gone, a final brief touch of sunset to end November.
I returned home in a blizzard. Out in the middle of a big field it was almost a white-out, distant woods just visible as dark strips. Winter is here.
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