If I was feeling frustration about not getting to all the snow up north these last few weeks, then that vanished a week ago when the snow arrived here in Portobello. It came in decent amounts too that transformed the local landscapes and gave me several days of good skiing. Of course, it came on a Monday and the skiing had to be fitted in before and after work for the rest of the week but I'm not complaining. In fact, getting out early morning meant that I could ski on unblemished snow after the overnight falls.
I love it at times like this when there is enough snow that I can ski right from my front door and out along the promenade. To be skiing right beside the sea is wonderful. You can marvel at snow lying on the beach and watch the snow-laden fronts move in from the North Sea.
From the promenade, the side streets took me up onto the High Street then onto my nearest golf course, Portobello. It's already a little higher than the promenade so the snow was thicker. The golf course gives wide open panoramas and a view to Arthur's Seat, the city's little mountain. You just need to be careful about spotting the bunkers.
Best of all is the woodland path along the edge of the course. In the snow, in the early morning with nobody else around, it was transformed in my imagination into a boreal forest of northern Scandinavia.
A little further away from Portobello but still accessible for skiing is the beautiful golf course at Duddingston. Its undulating fairways and woodland copses are changed by the snow into a magical, winter wonderland. I skied over the little bridges that cross the river which cuts through the middle of the course and examined tracks in the snow left by the wilder inhabitants during the night. A snow-covered Arthur's Seat dominated the view here as it's much closer and a favourite bench gave a lovely view of it with the rest of the city obscured by trees and the folds of the land. Under a blanket of white, you have no inclination that you are on a golf course.
Duddingston is a little higher again relative to Portobello so there was even more snow and good vantages for watching sunrise or sunset. It was so magical to be skiing there by torchlight in the frozen stillness of early morning.
Those snow days were wonderful and brought fun, immense beauty and joy. Just what was needed to lift the lockdown spirits.
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