photo of the month

On a day in the UK when wintery weather is rearing its ugly head and the daytime has been rapidly changing between bright and night-like overcast, bringing hail, snow and sleet. Here in Britain, I feel the weather creates a sense of drudgery... oh god, it's miserable, let's stay in all wrapped up and warm.

With the view of Russia as a place of temporary stay, the drudgery disappeared and was replaced by an appreciation of the absurdity and the eternal battle of man versus weather. Another day coping with the Siberian winter was viewed as a personal victory.

stalagmite or stalactite?

I don't know why, but in my first year in Russia, there seemed to be a collective amusement among the foreign teachers at icicles as big as buildings. Maybe it's just that icicles in the UK possibly reach a foot in length hanging from your guttering before you shatter them with your carefully aimed snowballs. In Siberia, it was just another sign of the extremity of the weather but one without personal consequence (for us, anyway) or negative effects such as pneumonia, frostbite or falls on ice. The photo, above, still makes me smile, both for the size of ice and for the memories of the camaraderie of colleagues.