Algy flew up to the edge of the forest and perched on the chilly ground in the sunshine. It was a beautifully bright day, but the air was cold and the mountain top was decorated with a light coating of snow. Every pocket in the boggy ground was covered with its own thin sheet of ice, which crackled from time to time, and in the shadows the frost still lay thick and crisp and white. But the air was calm and the sun still provided a slight hint of warmth, so Algy rested for a while, absorbing the winter sunshine while he could.

Algy hopes that you will all enjoy a warm and restful weekend 🙂

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Algy flew up to the edge of the forest and perched on the chilly ground in the sunshine. It was a beautifully bright day, but the air was cold and the mountain top was decorated with a light coating of snow. Every pocket in the boggy ground was covered with its own thin sheet of ice, which crackled from time to time, and in the shadows the frost still lay thick and crisp and white. But the air was calm and the sun still provided a slight hint of warmth, so Algy rested for a while, absorbing the winter sunshine while he could.

Algy hopes that you will all enjoy a warm and restful weekend 🙂

Source: adventuresofalgy

When Algy woke up on Thursday morning he got a wee surprise; it looked as though the weather gods had mislaid their calendar… He was sure that it was the end of April, but there was more snow falling than he had seen at any time during the winter. Algy flew quickly over to his assistants’ house, to find his tartan shawl and tam, and then perched in a bush in their garden, watching in amazement as huge flakes of heavy, wet snow kept flopping down on his head…

Algy dedicates this post especially to his friends at PWS @photosworthseeing, in honour of their special April event for spring 🙂

adventuresofalgy:

Algy found a perch in a bare willow tree, and looked out through the veil of lightly falling snow towards the craggy ridge. His little world seemed strangely transformed, and Algy thought of a haiku by Issa:

          Just by being,
          I’m here –
          in the snow-fall.

This post is especially dedicated to Algy’s sweet friend tinktastichana, who is about to end her annual visit to her home in Japan to return to her home in New York. Algy sends Hana and all his friends lots of snowy fluffy hugs xoxo

[ Algy is quoting a haiku by the 18th century Japanese master Kobayashi Issa. ]

And just by being, Algy was in the snow-fall again, almost exactly like this time last year…

Once again, wet snow snow was falling all around Algy’s home, and conditions outside were distinctly unpleasant. So once again, Algy wrapped himself up in his tartan shaw, made sure that his smaller feathered friends had plenty of food to eat, and then perched on a damp branch watching the snow fall and hoping that the winter would not last too long.

Algy hopes that you will keep warm too, if you are in a wintry place this weekend – and make sure to feed the little birds xoxo

By Saturday morning it seemed that the worst of the blizzards had passed for the time being, and the world looked somewhat brighter. As Algy perched on a soft cushion of young spruce branches near the entrance to the forest, the sun broke through the snow clouds and lit up the beautiful woodland on the far side of the deep freshwater loch. For a few bright moments, the whole world seemed transformed :))

Algy hopes that you will all have some bright moments when the world seems illuminated, this weekend xoxo

The next morning, Algy ventured back out onto the moor to see what was happening. Intermittent blizzard conditions persisted, but the snow was soft and wet and mixed with sleet, so it tended to melt partially before the next wave swept in. The wind, on the other hand, was fierce and bitter. Algy tried to keep as close to the ground as possible, with his back to the icy blasts. But even in such shelter as he could find, he noticed that all his feathers became aligned in one direction… never a good sign!

As the piercing wind stung his face, Algy remembered a rather unusual poem by Keats:

          O thou whose face hath felt the Winter’s wind,
          Whose eye has seen the snow-clouds hung in mist,
          And the black elm-tops ‘mong the freezing stars,
          To thee the Spring will be a harvest-time.
          O thou, whose only book has been the light
          Of supreme darkness which thou feddest on
          Night after night when Phoebus was away,
          To thee the Spring shall be a triple morn.
          O fret not after knowledge – I have none,
          And yet my song comes native with the warmth.
          O fret not after knowledge – I have none,
          And yet the Evening listens. He who saddens
          At thought of idleness cannot be idle,
          And he’s awake who thinks himself asleep.

[ Algy is quoting the poem The Winter’s Wind by the early 19th century English poet John Keats. ]

The weather was so unpleasant, and the wind so strong, that Algy decided it would be wise to take shelter in the great forest. Even there, the storms had taken their annual winter toll, and many trees had fallen. But a fallen tree can provide a welcome home for many wee creatures, and an excellent perch for a fluffy bird, so Algy soon found a comfortable place to rest and recover from the battering of the snow-laden gales. As he looked at the trees all around him, Algy thought of the famous poem by Robert Frost:

          Whose woods these are I think I know.
          His house is in the village though;
          He will not see me stopping here
          To watch his woods fill up with snow.

          My little horse must think it queer
          To stop without a farmhouse near
          Between the woods and frozen lake
          The darkest evening of the year.

          He gives his harness bells a shake
          To ask if there is some mistake.
          The only other sound’s the sweep
          Of easy wind and downy flake.

          The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
          But I have promises to keep,
          And miles to go before I sleep,
          And miles to go before I sleep.

[ Algy is quoting the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by the 20th century American poet Robert Frost. ]

The wind was whistling across the moor at speeds close to 40mph, and frequent showers of snow and ice were blasting across the ridges. The forecast said that the weather would continue to deteriorate, so Algy tucked himself down in the lee of a rock, pulled his hat firmly onto his head and clenched his beak, bracing himself for yet another winter storm…

As Algy looked out from his perch in the grey afternoon, he thought of all his friends in the north-eastern USA who were bracing themselves for what might be the biggest snowstorm on record. The spattering of snow around Algy’s home was negligible in comparison, and he wondered what it would be like to be completely overwhelmed by a massive snowfall…

Stay safe in those blizzard conditions, everybody, and keep warm! Algy says be sure to wear your hat :)) xoxoxo

The weather was changing again, and Algy knew that soon the snow and ice would turn to rain and mush, so he decided to explore some of the higher ground before all the snow melted. He flew for a few miles, up to the moor, and surveyed the scene in each direction. It certainly looked bleak, and he was very glad that he had followed his friends’ advice and kept his hat on his head, as that wind whistling through the moorland grasses was bitingly cold.