Austria

Crispiness and airy lightness of the aquamarine-blue sky collides with diamond-esque edges of the sleepy forest. Every evergreen stands still, holding mountains of heavy and thick snow banks on its shoulders, bending under the weight of nature’s warmth. You could hear the wood-pecker happily drilling for his afternoon snack, bringing the stillness to a rhythmical momentum. Shadows from the high noon combined with eliminated rays of golden brightness above make the snow seem like a trillion little glass fragments, divulging into the sea of cotton candy. Smell of sunshine permeates your pores, waking the sleepy body from the winter’s dread and igniting desire to breathe, to wake, to live.

Such is the beauty of a winter, its infinite purity and might, its burlesque shapes. One of the most unforgiving seasons and yet, one of the most beautiful times in nature. It is the time when everything is asleep and yet awake, quiet and yet exceedingly loud, effervescent and yet…at times, unbearable.

My legs sink in the heaviness of the snow, slowly drifting to the side, as I use my whole body to lift the several kilos of white gold off the ground in order to move through the sleepy forest. Desire to simply plump on the next snow bank and do the angel routine is unbearable…yet, I know better then to lay down in the lethal graveyard of the vicious white demons. Most beautiful of nature’s creations, yet the most deadly. It pierces your skin and your mind, freezing every extremity and chilling you to the core. You are acutely aware of the fact that the beauty around you is nothing more then a nature-made coffin, waiting to absorb your whole being into its sublime demise.

I walk; continue to overcome the urge to rest. My mind drifts across the horizon, imagining miles and miles of snow-covered ground and its breath-taking stillness. Relaxed and poised, I stand still for a moment, becoming one with the surroundings. Quietness of the field becomes the loudest noise I can imagine of ever hearing. The ringing in my ears is increasing in magnitude and my head begins to spin. If not distracted by the sound of a distant train…I wonder.

On the way back, exhilaration of surviving yet another meandering venture into the forest makes my heart beat faster. I long to return, to experience yet another whiff of beauty that is Alps…