Nicole Page-Smith, photographs and writing
Clouded with thoughts
We walked along and travelled through the clouds. Thoughts of flying did occur but the clouds drifted on by. Seeing through the fog was difficult and thoughts of strange gothic tales lingered. The town felt eerie and cold as though something strange had entered the harbour. Nights of cold, damp, weather persisted and everyday was like traipsing through a forest although the slush and leaves were just the footpath in town. Native birds finding their way through the forest at night would be less affected pecking their way through the undergrowth. Old towns throughout Europe darkened by soot and pollution feel less darkened by a lack of sunlight by day. Clouded with sludge and slippery, dirty, footpaths through ice and snow my thoughts tended to blacken as though the fog had descended.
Thoughts, drift and like the clouds and fog lifting, the footpaths dry and the wintery debris of autumn leaves from storms and wild rain, disappear. Storm clouds and the snow tend to go away, melting and drifting like thoughts, a storm of thoughts on your mind. The calm before the storm.
Snow of worth and flurry, further forward. While the clouds abate there is a strange sense of calm. Snow storms create a magic as though spirits drift in or another kind of substance is almost godlike in the wind. The snow beats on the window and curls around as though a supernatural force is at work, large piles gather in the corners of the yard while a white dusting appears on the seats and the grass. We are gathered around the door and the cat is covered in snow. All night the wind makes a strange sound and the surrounding countryside echoes the wind. Snow storms often melt away before dawn.
Snow storms bring the spirits of the snow and they do not feel human. Wind curls around and blows from the quiet of the land where most animals have hibernated and people are indoors. The wind tends to blow and howl around anything it can wrap itself around blowing over the ice. Is the wind looking for people to inform them of the snow? Howling through the vacant paddocks and the land to the mountain tops the noise of snow-covered places is eerie. Darkened light precedes the snow.
The darkness of brooding clouds moving and blackening the sky gives a heavy feeling of a gothic tale of skies clouding your thoughts as the bad weather drifts to sea. The warmth before snow is refreshing to dry the pavements but the skies reflect a different mood. Island weather makes you feel there is too much swirling seas but the storms blow off and the rain falls into the water and lakes, the sun shines again for the snow to fall. Such moody skies and brooding weather can be unsettling and your mind drifts to better times. Calm thoughts are a little hard with the threat of snow but the magic of the wintery landscape is to follow. Brooding thoughts.
