Dear Friends,

Today I want to share with you a magical experience: the crystal melodies of the enchanted winter forest!

I was there, along with my camera, for most of a whole day. And it was so beautiful, so enthralling that I sheer forgot to feel the cold at all. And then, when I came home, I spent some days creating the perfect match in sound for the composition I had in mind. The result? It’s in the link here below. 😉

But first, a short story written by my husband, inspired by my work!

The forest sleeps.

Frost shrouds the land, and the dark boughs overhead are heavy with snow. Icicles sparkle in the cool rays of the pale winter sun, and the icebound lake sings to itself in tones of purest blue. Around it, the frost-hardened trunks of the woods rise in endless rows towards the sky, veined with snow as like the marble pillars of some ancient, long-forgotten temple. Their age-worn, icy bark is hard and lifeless to the touch, but their roots burrow deep into the soil and loam of Mother Earth.

Nurtured, protected, waiting with endless patience for the next turn of the eternal cycle, the forest dreams.

There is nothing quite like the deep silence of the winter woods. The cold beauty, which yet may bring tears of joy to the eyes. The fleeting warmth of the Sun as it mirrors itself in a thousand, brilliant sparkles. The stark contrast of that memory of heat against the icy touch of the frost. The pure whiteness of snow against the dark ground. The ice, which glimmers with frozen light. And the softness of newborn snow, so gentle that even the briefest touch will melt it. The sheer, exuberant joy of being alive despite it all.

And through it all, the forest sleeps.

And as it sleeps, it dreams. It dreams of light. Of life-giving rays of heat gently warming the earth again. It dreams of the end of winter and its cold, unyielding beauty, of the mild breeze rustling through newborn leaves, of sap and growth and rebirth.

It dreams of Spring.

Attributions

Video & music by Elena Voroniouk © 2022 all rights reserved.
Story by Ruben Mannstaedt © 2022 all rights reserved.
Video engineering by Ruben Mannstaedt.