Day 363 - Silvester (last post)

Pre dawn Saturday

Enztal

On Saturday it dawned clear but soon clouded over spelling the end of a week of stable weather. By Sunday cloud was swirling through the Enz valley bringing rain, sleet and occasional snow but the rise in temperature ensured that it soon melted. The damp weather failed to deter weekend walkers however and there appeared to be as many as in the Summer high season.

… And so ends the 725 Black Forest diary 2007 blog. Did I lose two days somewhere? Well I never was very good at maths. New Years Eve or Silvester as it is called in Germany marks the end of the year and fireworks are big here. From Sommerberg hill a panorama of displays can be seen from Bad Wildbad and Calmbach to villages along the horizon and even Stuttgart 40km away manages to light up the horizon.

The new i-paint-blog will replace the 725 blog for 2008 and hopefully it will prove as interesting to do as this one was. Sommerberg in photos will continue and a (Sommerberg 2008 photos) link will be put on the 725 blog towards the end of 2008. Best wishes for 2008 to all readers, bloggers, loggers, joggers, environmentalists, artists, designers, musicians, writers, actors, dancers, street artists, buskers, charity workers, cleaners and anyone trying their best to make a better world.

That’s all folks !

Day 360 - Grünhütte

A popular destination

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An outing to Grünhütte was on the agenda today and there was still plenty of frozen snow at 835 metres altitude. Arriving at lunchtime we queued with other walkers for twenty minutes to order our refreshment, which in my case was a glühwein (mulled wine). The most popular order appeared to be beer with Pfannkuchen (pancake) a giant thick omeletty affair that spilled over the edges of the large plates with a bullseye dollop of red jam. Outside the benches were packed with sun-glass donned customers sunning themselves in the warm sunshine and occasional cross-country skiers glided past adding to the ski resort atmosphere.

Day 359 - Family

Bad Wildbad's pedestrianised area at night

An excellent evening meal at the renowned Alte Linde in Bad Wildbad completed our family Christmas get together. The cold weather continued but there was little to show for the snow and rain predicted a few days ago. So Christmas greetings to everyone and have a good New Years Eve.

Day 356 - Minus 10

The glorious weather continues as does the frost. Its was - 4C up on the hill this morning but down in the shaded parts of the valley it was as low as -10C.

Day 355 - Christmas in Calw

Even late afternoon frosty leaves can be found

Ice encrusted fountain in Calw

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Passing through Calw the other day it looked very picturesque with Christmas lights decorating the roof eves. The freeze continues and in places along the Enz valley the landscape is a magical ethereal white as sunlight fails to reach it during the day. On the hill in Sommerberg it is surprisingly warm in the sun and perfect weather for long winter walks.

Day 352 - Sun track

Contrails over Stuttgart airport

Sun track from 7:30 – 10:00

Another glorious day but with temperatures still well below freezing. At 7:30 the sky was completely clear not a cloud or contrail anywhere to be seen. Soon after 8:00 small contrails did start appearing above the rising sun over Stuttgart airport.

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.

Day 349 - Iceworks

After many weeks of refurbishment the funicular finally gets underway again. I was looking forward to showing you pictures of the exciting new changes but little has changed. The building still has the same old clinical interior but with new windows and the carriage exteriors are exactly as before. The carriage interiors have been re-uphostered so next time I travel in it I will take some photos. The freeze continues and the ice has now turned opaque creating new and interesting patterns, so instead of funicular pictures here are a few more iceworks. Although it was Sunday yesterday and the funicular was running again it would appear that there were few people interested in admiring the new handiwork or willing to venture out into the cold to stroll through the Black Forest fridge.

Day 346 - Minus zero

Frozen puddles

Today it is below freezing and the thin layer of snow that appeared the other day crunches underfoot. Water has turned to ice and puddles have become abstract works of art. Apart from the odd crow the birds are silent and the tracks made by animals the only sign that they exist somewhere in the forest.

Day 343 - i paint blog

A misty Enz valley

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It remains grey 'nasskalt' and depressing at the moment, but at least the forecast is for brighter, colder weather. The 725-blog was intended to be a simple one-year time capsule diary of ‘wild’ life in the Black Forest and so this will be the final month. A new blog is planned for next year called i-paint-blog which will document the progress of a painting. The blog will begin on the 1st January 2008 and although I cannot guarantee that I will start painting on that day I may well show the canvas, paints and brushes ... hmmm... that sounds exciting:)

In the afternoon I walk down the zigzag path in sleety rain to do some shopping. Two hours later back up on the hill the landscape has been transformed by a white blanket of snow. With a cold night ahead and no doubt more snow to come we should be back to where we were a week or two ago.

i-paint-blog

Day 341 - Black leaves

Black silver leaves

Although it is only +5 degrees today it feels quiet mild and even the sun makes an effort to show itself now and again. After a short Sunday morning stroll through the woods I return to contemplate the meaning of being here. Was it to photograph those black leaves lying on the ground in the forest? Black leaves that glisten in the sunlight like hand beaten flakes of forged metal. Have you ever seen black leaves? Have you ever looked? Do you even care?

Day 340 - Christmas lights

Stadtkirche Bad Wildbad

Outside the local church Christmas lights decorate a Black Forest pine tree and along the Enz river bank seasonal decorations are also beginning to appear.

Day 338 - St. Nicholas

Statue 'La Nuit' by Aristide Maillol

beyond is the Weihnachtsmarkt

The medieval Stiftskirche on

Schillerplatz and the Christmas market

Although Stuttgart is not strictly in the Black Forest it is the nearest big city. Today is St. Nicholas day and last night the Stuttgart Christmas market was in full swing packed with visitors no doubt buying small gifts for their children. St. Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) was reputed to have secretly given gifts to children and he is thought to have been the basis for Father Christmas (Santa Claus) though over the years his dress style has changed somewhat. This date is celebrated throughout most of Europe but in England it is still relatively unknown apart from the tradition of putting small gifts into stockings and this has been transferred to the evening of December 24th.

Day 335 - Umbrella

Umbrella

Reflections of a storm

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Yesterday was cold, wet and grey. The last patches of snow were finally washed away and the noise of the wind revving up marked most of the day. By evening the radio was warning of hurricane (Orkan) gusts up to 150kph. Having witnessed the debris caused by the last storm in spring when ‘Orkan Kyrill’ tore down many large pine trees I decided to give my Sunday walk to Grüne Hütte a miss. If you happen to be in the path of a falling tree it can give you a nasty bump on the head and just because Christmas is on the doorstep does not mean that you can drag your booty home and decorate it. Anyway the storm aftermath can often portray a better picture of the storm than trying to capture an image of swaying trees in dull lighting conditions as rain seeps into the camera. So with this philosophy I ventured out this morning into the still wet and windy forest to document the aftermath. However as far as I could see on my short walk there was not a fallen tree in sight and hardly a branch out of place, so much for the ‘hurricane gusts’. It remained windy however and in exposed areas it was a constant battle to keep my umbrella together as the rain lashed at me from all sides. With my enthusiasm slightly dampened I returned home with the distinct feeling that it was only my umbrella that suffered any storm damage.

Day 331 - Sunup

Sunup 8:00 zero Celsius. I watch the sun climb into a grey velvet sky criss-crossed with red contrails. A blazing orange fireball that would burn your eyes out if it was much brighter, even the black horizon seems repelled as it arcs away. In an endless void filled with infinite spinning globes this is what keeps life going on earth. For millions of years and regular as clockwork it has appeared daily, never faltering, only hidden occasionally from view by the weather. A free heater in motion that never breaks down and automatically supplies the right temperature. Within thirty minutes it has become a white glaring disc of radiation turning deep space into a pale blue sky and blotting out vapour patterns. The white light is unpleasant to look at but it fills my room with light and heat even on days when it is hidden from view.

Intrepid insect

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Moth

It remains just above freezing all day but surprisingly there are still insects about. Several mosquito-like insects fly past me as I return from a walk to Fünf Bäume and a recently expired moth had gone to ground in the frozen snow.

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Sommerberg 2007 photos