It is the light that signals the changing of the seasons in
Estonia.
In the deep winter it is the long darkness and human life is
measured by the welcome candles outside cafes and restaurants. Slowly though,
each day begins to bring more light and soon the days grow long and bright.
The low horizons of this flat and forested land makes the early
spring sunshine blinding against the
snow- it is almost as though a searchlight has come on in order to banish the
winter darkness. The return of the sun is the promise of new warmth and by
March and April the days are visibly lengthening from one sunrise to the next.
Gently the grip of the frost begins to fail. The workmen go
onto the roofs to shovel the snow so that it does not turn to ice, though still
the passer-by must be wary as the thaw drops icicles from the steep pitched
gables of the Old Town.
The cafes begin to put out tables on the cobbles- not the
elaborate terraces that come out when the leaves do, but still another sign of
spring- albeit wrapped in warm woollen fleeces and blankets
From the cinnamon of the Hoogvein
or Gloogi that we drank in the deep
winter darkness, we might now venture a coffee without a shot of warming Naps. Now we now pick our way along the
winding lanes in the clear light of the morning of the year.
Soon we will be drinking the cold beers or light wines of
high summer.
Then there is no night at all- only the long twilight with
buildings or trees picked out in sharp shadows against the luminous sky.
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