Here’s a sunset view that you can’t appreciate in the same way in the other seasons. For then, the richness of fall’s colors, the darkness of summer’s, and vibrancy of spring’s all overwhelm the gentle colors of a sunset like this one. But here, in the winter, the white of the snow sets it off to perfection:

The Last Light, originally uploaded by Team Jenneson.

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This one is in the middle of Loch Tay:

Crannog, originally uploaded by Angus Clyne.

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I saw this photo (another of Scotland) this morning, and to me, it looks like something out of a fantasy story. This is somewhere in the wilds of the Highlands, where the snow and extra-cold temperatures have bathed everything in the colors of steel and white.

…, originally uploaded by Hee Haw But A Number.

This is a deceptively beautiful scene, though, for it is a dangerous one. Over the Holidays, they had three avalanches…one of which killed a blogger whom I’ve followed for two years.

Avalanches aren’t a problem here in Ohio, though. No mountains, unfortunately. But winter’s beauty still surrounds me. Here is what I was treated to on my way to church Sunday morning, courtesy of my camera phone:

Iced Trees

A Frosted Elm

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Jarentho is an entire city, rather than a castle. Here’s a clip from my work-in-progress…

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Rys followed her as she made twist after turn until the city walls loomed ahead. She led the way to a small door in them, murmured a word to the man guarding it, and soon he was traveling down a staircase that corkscrewed beneath the city.

She took several turns down intersecting passageways, through another door, and they stepped into the last rays of sunset onto a small, rocky beach that nestled beneath the city’s cliff-hugging walls.

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The south side of lower Glen Coe revolves around the complex mountain architecture of Bidean nam Bian, a reclusive giant that keeps its summit hidden behind three huge protruding buttresses that tower over the glen. And between two of these buttresses lies the high level hidden valley of Allt Coire Gabhail, for many years used by the Glen Coe MacDonalds to hide their cattle, and anyone else’s they could get their hands on.

The photographer adds a modern point-of view, “How they got the cows back there really is beyond me, since the walk on foot (with a bridge over a small ravine) was not simple.”

Glen Coe, originally uploaded by sanj b..

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Do you want to see what the actual “Hidden Valley” looks like? Here it is, shrouded in mist (as it probably often was). Here is a shot of the whole valley, from above and to the left. (That’s Glen Coe itself waaaay down there.) And this is what it looks like from the summit of Bidean nam Bian in the months when things aren’t so green. I wanted to offer you a winter shot, when it’s covered in snow and ice, but I couldn’t find one!  (Probably not enough ameteur photographers manage to get up there that time of year.)

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Anyone else want to go spend several days exploring Glen Coe?

Glen Coe was the site of the famous massacre of the MacDonalds. History has skewed the story, blaming the Campbells for it, when in reality, the story was much more complicated. I encourage you to read what really happened, and why the biggest offense was not the deaths, but the violation of the deeply held code of hospitality held by Scottish Highlanders.

You see, in the Highlands, when someone needed shelter or food, any other Highlander was obligated to give it, even if the needy man was a mortal enemy. Along with the shelter and food was required an unspoken promise of safety while the hopsitality was being given. You absolutely never ever invited an enemy in for food and shelter, and then proceed to attack him the next morning. Yet that is precisely what the English government (not the Campbell Clan) did.  (And no, I’m not prejudiced because the MacIver and Campbell names were synonomous for many years.)

You can read about the history of Glen Coe on Undiscsovered Scotland.

The vantage point that this photo is shot from, is one of the more famous, because it shows the dramatic face of Aonach Dubh so well. This mountain is one of the famous “three sisters” of Glen Coe.

I’ll have more amazing photos for you in the weeks to come.