Snow Pictures From the Infamous #BeastFromTheEast

It has been so long since I posted anything on Steemit – life, work and other such happenings have gotten in my way over the last few weeks – but now that Ireland is in a state of complete shutdown over Storm Emma and the Beast From the East, I have time to stay indoors and work on the post ideas that have been swirling around in my head. 😊
Incidentally, I love Irish people's reactions to weather events that would be considered run-of-the-mill in other countries. Whenever any unusual weather incident affects Ireland – whether it was Storm Ophelia last year, the great ash cloud drama of 2010, or the current Beast From the East visitation – we do what we do best and take the absolute piss out of the situation. My Facebook feed has been full of posts about people stockpiling all of the Brennan's bread in the country. There isn't a loaf to be found here for love or money. Another great source of amusement has been the Massive Snowball Fight between North Dublin and South Dublin, which went viral on Facebook, attracted the interest of thousands of people, and garnered a good deal of news coverage. I'm a Northsider born and bred, so it's no mystery which side I supported in this epic clash. 😉
Anyway, the whole country is in a state of shutdown, so I have time to work on Steemit posts over the next couple of days. I would love to continue the "People Who Prove the World May Not be Going to Hell in A Handcart" series that I started about a month ago, with an article on the environmental activist and urban gardener Sheryll Durrant. But first of all, I wanted to share a few pictures of the snow! The last time Dublin saw a significant amount of snow was in 2010, so I'll have to wait another eight years before I can get photographs like this again. Maybe. Unless climate change kills us all before then. 😛

The garden was so bright last night that no flash or torch of any kind was needed! It gave the picture a natural sepia tone.

These pictures were taken at around midnight, but our visibility was unbelievable. I love the colour of the sky when it snows.

And one more naturally sepia-toned image, because I just love the colour so much...

Frosted lollipop trees! 😁

I was haunted by the image of this empty park bench and the absolute stillness all around.

My dog Buddy explored the park to his heart's content earlier today.

While the park looks very still and quiet in the two pictures above, there was a crowd of kids nearby, enjoying what looked like an extremely vigorous snowball fight and sledding down a small hill. Naturally – given my overwhelming obsession with dogs (and huskies in particular), the only thing that compelled me to take out my camera in the midst of the mêlée was the sight of the two huskies below, who were only thrilled about this chance to experience their natural weather conditions at long last.

Moon moons never usually get to see snow in Ireland!

I'm sure I will get to take some more snow pictures as the week unfolds. The Beast From the East is projected to last into the weekend, at least, so there's nothing for it but to hunker down with my hot chocolate and amuse myself looking at more Brennan's bread-related memes! And, you know, do some work. Maybe. 😇