A Chilly Morning

It was cold this morning. The wind whipped my hair around my face as I walked to the train station in the dark. This is the first morning that it has remained dark for the majority of my journey into work. Now and then I would see glimpses of a lit window or the light from another train passing us, illuminating the arch of the trees and highlighting the tracks beside us, before the world returned to obscurity. It felt almost like a Dickensian winter morning outside. I could appreciate the feeling that the glow of a candlelit window promised after traveling for so long in the blackness of shadows.

The air was fresh and clean coming off of the river this morning and as chilly as it was I decided to take a longer walk to work. It made my cheeks turn pink and my nose run, but I was so happy. My detour route takes me by some hidden gems. The air smelled of pine needles as I passed by a row of houses. There were piles of branches on the curb that were the shaved off remnants of Christmas trees. Shorn around the base to fit inside their tree stand. There were still plenty of leaves underfoot that crackled and crunched as I walked over them. Unusually, I passed no one for ages, it was bliss, the world was simply mine.