Snow!

The first snow fell in Korea way back in November, and early in November as well. In fact, we had snow for my birthday, 19 November. And, it was the usual snowfall - and inch or two - that I had been experiencing since coming to Korea in 2007.

However, yesterday evening and the whole of today, the 4th of January, snow has been falling almost non-stop and an estimated 12 inches have fallen so far. Not a blizzard by any standard, but heavy enough to make me say that I've never seen so much snow in all my life! The photo above is an example of how wonderfully snow transforms the landscape - this is the trash dump behind an abandoned restaurant that is now a fairy landscape.

The place where I live has a rich variety of dogs, and here you see one of them next to drift about two foot high. I know that dogs have the fur to cope with the weather, but it still pains me to see the callous disregard the Koreans have for them - the doghouse in the back is not for this dog, who has no shelter beyond the overhang of the puppy coop behind him.

A shot of the pines all decked with snow - a recent article has provoked much scorn from the English community for claiming that the Christmas tree originated in Korea and that they will be seeking compensation from commercial growers of these in the west.

This is the tree they are talking about!

And finally, a shot that I lucked in to - the snow and the branch combined to form an artistic composition that is well worth preserving.