Neville let the truth....

This morning a curious thing happened.... ......

but let me first describe the scene. We rose about 7.30am which is still half light here as the sun doesn't rise to about 9am at the moment. As we prepared for our morning walk (about 3 kms through some parkland) we noticed that the outside temperature was at minus -11C, so we put on the appropriate layers of clothing as this was the coldest morning we had had since being in Estonia. When we ventured outside we were met with another startling display that nature had conjured up over night. All the trees, both deciduous and evergreen were silver plated. Not the white spectacular that we have experienced in times of snow, but rather what appeared to be a glittering silver coating. This was ice, produced by the very low temperature overnight. In particular the leafless silver birch trees appeared to have magically regained their foliage, only this time, not the lush green of spring, but the glittering silver of this cold winter morning. We were treated to this spectacular scenery for the whole of our walk through the little forrest or park, and marvelled again at how different this regular pathway can appear as the seasons work their way through an Estonian year. Being here to see those changes and experience those special moments has been a privilege and unforgettable time. In spite of the temperature, and we are told it will get much colder yet, we were snug in our layers of warm cloths and thermals, our coats, our hoodies, our scarves , our beanies and our gloves. We returned home exhilarated, even if those exposed areas of skin, like our nose and cheeks, felt a little frozen.

Now, the curious thing.....after "declothing", a chore we have become used to now, I set about my morning task of preparing breakfast. This normally includes making porridge, especially during the winter months, and in the process I needed milk from the fridge. When I opened the door of the fridge I sensed something was wrong. The fridge was warm, a sure sign that there was a problem. I checked the digital readout on the fridge which tells me the internal temperature and it was still on the 4 degrees that it normally operates. So nothing wrong. Then it sunk in. I had just come in from outside where the temperature was -11C. The fridge was 15 degrees warmer than outside!!! So, I guess the logical conclusion must be, if we want warm up we should sit in the fridge.

Actually these pictures, taken on my phone, dont capture the full splendour. Note the street lights are still burning and the apparent blue sky is mobile phone photographic magic I think. We wish you could all be here to see this and to walk with us through this 'winter wonderland'.

During our year here in Estonia, I have tried, among other things, to read as much from Estonian literature as I could. Fortunately, quite a bit has been translated into English, which is just as well as my Estonian is not nearly good enough for that task. I have read in many genres, the novel, the historical novel and 'straight' historical documents. The sources for this have been the local library, which has an excellent section of Eesti authors translated into English, and online where I can access articles and papers produced by journalists and university lectures and students. I have done this to try and understand how this land and its history has shaped the character, the outlook and the values of the current Estonian population. Some of you might remember, that in an earlier post just after arriving here last April I wrote about how I could see our land (Australia) and our history had shaped us as a nation of people. How the big blue skies, the wide horizons, the bright light, the peaceful past had all worked together to produce our Aussie character, our values, our national soul. Of course, the same is true here, but the differences are significant. Here the skies are not that often big and blue, the horizons are not far as there is always a forest in view, the light is considerably more muted and there is anything but a peaceful past. Has this led to a difference in outlook, character and values in the Estonian personality? Yes, in many ways it has, and it reminds us that understanding another people from another land and another historical experience cannot be achieved by either a casual visit or by measuring it against our experience and culture. There is a good, valid reason that people of different races or places are different. Before we compare, before we judge, before we praise, before we vilify, perhaps we should take the time to understand the forces of nature and history that shape us all. I have found this to be a timely reminder in this day of mass migrations, refugees and wide spread fears emanating mainly from ignorance. I don't mean to imply that we must always agree with or adopt others characteristics, values or outlook, but we should, at least I think, try to understand them. Put simply, our way of life is not the only way of life. We are neither superior or inferior, we are one part of a diverse humanity.

During this year in Europe I have been disturbed to read and hear ( our press seems to not have knowledge or interest in European developments and politics) of the significant resurgence of right or ultra-right wing political movements. Already two European countries ( Poland and Austria ) have such parties in powerful positions, and many other countries are subject to increasing pressure from this side of politics. Whilst there are substantial differences in the agendas of the right wing groups in different countries, one of the common values is that of nationalistic superiority, or at the very least, agendas promoting national identity as a means of isolating one nation from another. Not only in Europe, but the "me first" aspects of both Trump's America and Brexit UK, seem to spring from the same source. Yes, in Australia also such movements are present and some representatives have already penetrated our political stage. The world saw in horror dimensions what rampant nationalism achieved in Hitlerism and it seems inconceivable that we have forgotten so soon. Perhaps, as some of my acquaintances suggest, I think too much or take too much notice of the news from around the world. Maybe so, but even if my own future is to be counted in a handful of years, our children and their children, and yours too, still have lives to live. I think we need to have the courage to reject such views whether they are expressed privately or publicly, as our contribution to a peaceful world future.

Now on a much lighter note...the "cold war" in Estonia. After about 4 to 5 days where night time temperatures have been around -10C the large river, known as the Emajõgi, that flows through the centre of our town of Tartu, has frozen over. Amazing. One day just small pieces of ice floating down the river, the next great rafts of ice floating down the river, the next just stationary ice covering the whole river. The locals hardly notice, but to us it is like magic. Tartu's lake, which is their summer swimming place, is fully frozen and people were skating and walking over the frozen surface. We even had a walk ourselves, though skating unfortunately is possibly a bit ambitious for us as we have never skated before. Here are some pictures...hope they convey a little of what it is like.