Whispers on the wind

[fluffymark]

Flutter Flap Flutter Flutter

In Persian mythology the butterfly is a restless spirit. A fragile and broken soul, unable to find peace, flitting about from place to place, striving endlessly to find the rest it needs, fluttering a ghostly afterlife in a beautiful yet fragile winged physical form. This tragic and pretty image makes me both deeply sad and in a state of sincere awe.

daevas has written and recorded a song about the broken butterfly. It’s horrendously gorgeous and captivating.

I flitted around all over the land this weekend. Train windows not only reflect my face back at me, they reflect a view of the timeless world outside. Sloping fields and tiny villages speed past my image, or is it the other way around? Decay is in the air, crumbling red brick tunnels and bridges precariously span the line. We speed past abandoned bricked up mills and old church steeples. Twisted birds circle slowly in the grey glum skies, which smoulder an eerie shadow over the subdued land. Leaves having scattered from trees, now revealed as pointed skeletons in the cold light of day. The wind has stopped. Silence abounds, the world is waiting. You can feel it, almost touch it.

Winter is coming.

Something tells me this one will be colder than most. Deadly cold. But I smile and return to reading my book in the warm train. I’m moving onwards. Wherever the wind may take me.

Comments

Re: Winter is coming

[redcountess]

Living in Melbourne we'd sometimes get Southerly winds that were cold enough to come up from Antartica, but you couldn't *feel* the snow like I could today.

Re: Winter is coming

[fluffymark]

It's not snowing yet, however it may feel. Wait for the siberian winds in December. Then you'll need to wrap up warm.

I'm going to have to buy a nice warm coat and boots.

Re: Winter is coming

[redcountess]

I have trouble controlling my temperature, so something to keep the wind off is what I want, but I don't want a nylon windbreaker type thing. I already have a fantastic scarf, purple fleece :-)

Re: Winter is coming

[fluffymark]

oh oh ooooooooooooooh. You've put the idea of buying warm *purple* clothing into my head. It would be wrong, but it is so right. :)

Re: Winter is coming

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

You definately are if you're going to get yourself here :)

Re: Winter is coming

[fluffymark]

*nods* Exactly my point, dearie! :)

Flights all now booked! :) Arriving at Moscow Domodedovo at 16:30 on 24 December, leaving 20:45 on 3rd January. Yaaaaaaaay. :)

Advise me on warm clothing. Should I get a nose-warmer? *giggle*

Re: Winter is coming

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Why didn't you tell me before, huh?!?!?!

Anyway, one major point about the flights: you do realise that with the time changes, you're going to be *knackered* on the 24th...you'll be checking in at 8 or something, won't you? Ah well.

Warm clothing. Ok, some tips. Remember if the worst comes to the worst and you can't find anything *quite* warm enough, as long as you can survive we can buy some things (especially small things) here and you can trash them before you leave.

- mittens are better than gloves, really. It's probably worth having a set of gloves *and* a set of mittens, the latter for when it's really cold. Generally your extremities will suffer the most.

- hats are also a must. Especially if you don't want old biddies to whinge at you. Perhaps you can bring whatever hat you bought for Prague last year and if it's not good enough, we can search for something better at my local market.

- I find that one or two thick, chunky layers are a lot better than lots of thin ones. So some thick, wooly socks - just one pair - will do a better job than several "warm" socks worn at the same time. You can buy rabbit-wool socks here at a reasonale price (I need to stock up actually) so just arrive in a good pair and we can buy more. A good, chunky jumper, a thick, loose coat...choose your clothes appropriately. Loose and baggy leaves room for (warm) air to circulate. Don't plan to wear tight jeans or anything like that...you really will feel it. If you do wear something well-fitted, you'll need thermals to wear underneath.

Erm...oh yes. Make sure that your external wear is easy to remove/undo. This is because indoor places tend to be *very well heated* and so after 10 minutes on the metro you may find yourself overheating. This is rather unpleasant. So make sure you can quickly *air* yourself.

That's all I can think of right now. Email me with any other questions you have... :)

And have a great time in Poland!

Re: Winter is coming

[fluffymark]

Yaaaaaaaaaay! Thank you. :)

Yep I may be a little flopped on arrival - if I'm lucky I could prod Elly and Nick who now live close to Heathrow to let me stay at their place the night before, so I don't have to get up quite so early.

Am hoping to buy warm stuff to keep and not chuck it, as I'll need warm things for Tallinn and Riga in February, as it'll be almost as cold there. I'll bring a minimum of each (warm socks, warm mittens, warm hat, warm coat, warm jumper) and I'll buy more snuggly warm things soon after arrival. :)

You sound like you have personal experience in the tight jeans badness, dearie. :(

Quick remove clothing, eh? *ehem*

Am so excited about Poland. Yaaaay! Pity I'll miss you, but I've arranged to see your cousin in Warsaw tomorrow evening, so that will be ....odd. Can you be a star and remind me what your cousin's name is, as I've forgotten, and it'll be horribly embarassing to turn up and not know. I've been told she's nice. :)

Re: Winter is coming

[alektoeumenides.livejournal.com]

Her name's Agata.