More snow.......

A dramatic sky greeted me....(Click to enlarge)

       There's been some contrasting weather conditions in my neck of the woods today. I struggled into my running gear at 7 o'clock this morning, made myself a cup of coffee and took a peek out the door. As I stepped from the shelter of the porch it was like someone threw a bucket of snow at me. Running, I decided, was definitely a big no no. Then, as I sat down to enjoy my coffee, a green flash of lightning lit the sky followed by a great crash of thunder. I couldn't believe it, I've never known such electricity in the air to accompany snow. It did today.  Daylight came and there was still no let-up. My neighbour swished the snow off his car windscreen and set off to work. It wasn't long before the car arrived back in the yard. There were tales of gridlocked roads around Leeds, where my neighbour works, and queues of traffic on the M62 motorway across the Pennines.
       

      Not having run yesterday I was desperate to get out.  I sat around, catching up with emails,  

One guy who didn't make it to the top......

posting to Facebook, drinking more coffee, having a mid morning snack, until finally around lunchtime there appeared to be a weather window, of sorts. I donned a windproof jacket, warm head band, strapped a camera to my bumbag and set off across the fields. It was hard work running in snow and I was beginning to struggle after barely ½ mile. My breathing pattern, which I like to keep under strict control regardless of whether I'm running uphill or down, was all out of kilter. In fact, I was quite breathless at times, and came to a strange conclusion i.e: when I'm running in freezing temperatures the cold air, which feels like a block of ice in my chest, contracts my lungs, so I have to breathe faster to get the requisite amount of oxygen to fuel my activity.

     

Spreading my wings as the sun came out....Yippee

       It wasn't long before I reached the top of Castle Hill where kids, and some parents too, were having a great time tobogganing down the slopes, compressing the snow to ice. Unfortunately, a car on its way up failed to make it to the top, collided into a crash barrier with wheels skidding and subsequently abandoned while the driver went off to fetch snow chains. A kestrel was hovering around though I can't imagine what it expected to find. Mice and voles have more sense than to poke there noses out in that stuff. Umm, maybe I should take a lesson from them! There were dark snow clouds drifting across the valley a mile or so away, but Castle Hill was mainly bathed in sunlight enabling me to have an enjoyable run. so much so that a planned four miles got extended to five. Amazingly, as I was going through my stretching routine, back home under the porch, another thick band of snow obliterated the landscape. Ha, ha, you missed me!