A January Morning

The Czech language is often very poetic and colorful. For example, the word "January" in Czech is "Leden", which literally means "the time of ice". The other day the ever-present winter overcast cleared up, and I took the opportunity to take a walk into the forest. Most of the snow has melted, although the frozen ground still has a satisfying crunch under my feet. Just beyond our house at the edge of the forest is what looks like an old train car. It is a beehive, and our first summer here we could sometimes hear the buzzing of bees from our window. Last summer the bee population dropped precipitously, and what few bees came seemed slow and lethargic. Now in the dead of winter, it sits silently with it's small colony huddled inside.

In the middle of the field behind our house sits a hunting chair. These are everywhere in the forests and fields of Czech Republic, and are used by hunters during season to hunt deer. We like to climb up these and take a look, although in this particular one last summer a group of angry wasps (the insects, not the demographic) chased us out.

A few kilometers from our house, a footpath runs beside the mighty Vltava River. This river flows through Prague and is crossed by the famous Charles Bridge. Here near Hluboka it is now frozen and especially beautiful on this winter morning.

A few hundred meters above the Vltava River, the trail climbs up to the top of this hill called "Baba". "Baba" is Czech for "granny", but usually in a negative sense, like an old crone. I'm not sure why it is called Baba, as it is really a lovely peaceful place. This pic is taken on top of the hill. There isn't much here now, just a starkly beautiful forest saving it's strength for the coming spring.