Resilience

In the Netherlands it snows occasionally in the winter. This winter 20 cm of snow was predicted to fall overnight. Because of this, The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) issued ‘code red’ which comes down to do not travel if it is not needed. The thing with photography is that extreme weather conditions often yield the most beautiful/unique photos. So, I could not resist to not set my alarm clock to get up early to take advantage of this situation.

Often these warnings are a bit exaggerated. Not this time! Once arrived at the highway, I expected an easy drive to the location. This was not the case this time. The highway was full of snow and the strong wind blew up a lot of snow reducing visibility. It was not dangerous to drive, but more exhausting.

Once arrived at the location, there was a sign put up that the parking lot was closed. It was located slightly elevated and because of this most cars would get stuck trying to reach it. Luckily, it was also possible to park in the town. Which was only about 800 meters from the parking lot.

It was just after sunrise when Tine and I started our walk. The snow was still untouched. A perfect snowy carpet of about 5 to 10 centimeters of snow. Because of the strong wind it was much more (25+ cm) at some locations.

It was a beautiful walk in this snow covered woodland. During the walk It was nice to see how the birds adapted to their new environment. However, the wind did make it a cold one. It was minus 10 degrees Celsius with a wind chill of minus 18C because of this strong eastern wind. Luckily after not too long we found the herd highlander cattle. With the ice picks on their horns the weather did not seem to impress them at all.

It was a unique (and cold) morning to have in the Netherlands.