white powdery woods.
in february we were gifted with a few snow days, which is basically all i'm asking for when it comes to winter. snow is wonderful. but it's actually quite rare where i live. most of the time it's just cold & grey & wet and it makes me extremely depressive at times. sometimes even as much as in summer ( which has also been a depressive time for me in the past - even though this year it's not as heavy & bad as in many years prior ). i could get used to winter though, if it would consist of more snow days! snow makes winter very appealing to me, frost as well. it's just so beautiful to walk through a winter landscape, to take in the serene & innocent whiteness of it all. it's like a canvas, on the verge of getting painted with beautiful lush colours - as if nature is about to be born again. when everything's hidden under a layer of white powder it even feels a bit celestial - maybe because it mutes out the sounds of hectic everyday life of us human beings. people showcase some kind of respect towards snow that they don't exhibit in other seasons. they retreat and leave the woods & fields to those who dare to go outside in freezing temperatures. those walks, with close to no soul out there other than me, are quite precious and they nourish my soul in a way that feels pristine, grounded & close to this planet.
this particular walk lead me through the woods of terra levis - a natural burial grave site here in wiesbaden. i loved strolling through the grounds, it was kind of mystic & enchanting. as you know, i'm a huge graveyard afficionado, the calm & contemplative aura these places emanate help me to recollect and center myself, especially because i feel like death should be a thing we need to embrace more, than to shove it far away. i often have a hard time thinking about death, though, as probably many of us do, and to throw myself into the midst of it with visiting places of sorrow & mourning it makes you remember that everything will come to a close - it restructures your thinking about life a bit. you try to hold onto it and appreciate it more. i am scared of death sometimes, but more so because i'm scared of the nothingness beyond it. i won't have eyes to see the beauty of the world anymore, i won't have feet to walk the fertile grounds, i won't have a heart that beats with excitement when you encounter wildlife. all the colours will be gone, all the beauty of the world swallowed by a thick big nothing. that's what scares me about death the most. the non-existence. and by visiting funeral places i kind of want to approach death with more open arms, becoming acquainted with it and befriending it. maybe with the thought in the back of my mind that when death comes - no matter if it will strike me or my loved ones - it won't be tearing me down into an existential crisis.
the main square of the cemetery. you won't find any gravestones here - the trees are the alternative for that. they are dedicated to the deceased.
that little square was such a peaceful place.
bark crosses.
contemplating.
it came over me, i wanted to touch the snow. of course my hands froze soon after. this picture is quite without any sense, but i still liked it, ha.
i moved onward soon, passing by log stacks.
a tiny patch of blue sky appeared, too.
wandering on tiny paths.
when the sun kisses the top of the trees.
light & shadow.
those huge barren trees are such a majestic sight to me.
waving goodbye to the cemetery.
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