The most beautiful season

I have said it before and I have to say it again: Winter is the most beautiful season of the year. At least here in Finland it is.

Don't get me wrong. I love spring when nature comes to life again, when the light is coming back, when the cold winter weather is replaced by warmer weather (although some years that doesn't seem to happen).

I also love the summer when it never gets dark and (rarely, but still) it's warm and everything is green.

And I love the autumn with it's colours, the cool fresh air, the rain (yes, a part of me loves that too) and the dark nights when you can see the season's first Northern Lights.

But nevertheless, winter is filled with unsurpassed beauty. The snow covers everything and makes the landscape very graphic. It also reflects any colour you might find in the sky, like the blue morning colours, the orange and pink sunsets and—of course—the green colours of the Aurora Borealis.

Even on a snowless winter day the frosty crystals create a magical silvery landscape. Sunrises and sunsets are very slow since the sun is moving horizontally just over the treetops at noon. Most of the day is dark in December. But in February for example we have a lot of light since days are getting longer and the light is boosted by the white snow.

I could go on forever about this. And then, of course, we have the Northern Lights which sometimes can be seen already at 7 pm.

These photos were taken on a beautiful winter morning a couple of days before Christmas.

The first and the last photo in this blog post is taken from the same spot. This is taken one hour after the first one as the sun was rising and casting its faint light on the church tower.