A Frosty Morning

A Frosty Morning

Byrichard

Despite having a frosty morning today I still decided to go for a run in the morning rather than the afternoon. I mention the frost because I noticed that one velux had the usual frost fractals but the others were clear. This is curious.


Frost fractals on a velux
Frost fractals on a velux


I wore a thermal layer, a fleece, a t-shirt and some running shoes that were not waterproof. I would have run one route but a couple took the entire width of the road so I ran along the side of the road, and in the grass by the side of the road. Due to my wearing different shoes my feet and socks got wet and I could feel the dampness, a feeling that I usually do not get.


Safety


I am experimenting with running for two reasons. The first is that I don’t feel safe cycling on roads where drivers do not slow down, or give enough space when overtaking. I don’t like having to look behind me continuously to get drivers to slow down and give enough distance between me and them. I don’t know whether my fear is due to walking by the road every day for almost five years, and cycling for one and a half hours per ride. These might have amplified my sense of danger.


Easier to Dress for Running


The second reason is dressing warmly. Cycling is one of those sports where you dress to be streamlined, but by being streamlined it is easy to feel the cold. Warm cycling clothing is also expensive and although I can layer I am quite happy to walk.


Efficient


The nuance of running, rather than walking is about time. By running I can cover the same distance in half the time than I would if I was walking. This means that what would take one hour might take half an hour. That is more time to do other things. It is also easier to play chicken with the sunset, or grab a break between rain clouds.


Full Body


Running is also a full body workout, rather than a lower body workout. Running uses the upper body and the lower body. You can feel the shoulders, lower back, and pectoral muscles working. You can also feel tightness in certain running muscles after a run.


Avoiding injury


The reason for which I am careful with running, and why I am working towards a 5km goal is body strain. I found that when I pushed towards running more than 10 kilometres it hurt my knees. I want to give my body time to adapt to running, before pushing beyond 5 kilometres.


Cheap and Light


If I grow comfortable with running then I have a cheap, light, versatile sport to enjoy year round. I do need to get comfortable with hills around here. If I leave the village where I live then I have two directions with hills, one that is too short and too busy to be a workout and the other that is towards a town and civilisation. The other routes take me to the countryside.


Solitary


Aside from the points I have made above running is also a sport that you can do alone. Climbing, diving, via ferrata and other sports require at least one more person, and the relevant equipment. With running you need shoes and that’s it, if you want to be a minimalist.


And Finally


Walking and hiking for four and a half million to five and a half million steps per year doesn’t count as improving fitness after five years of routine. Cycling does, when I push myself, and so does running. I want to see my fitness go up, not down over the cold winter months. I want to feel that I am progressing, not stagnating. Running is a way of achieving this goal.

Velux Fractal Season
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Velux Fractal Season

Byrichard

When the conditions are just right fractals form on veluxes and they are beautiful. It requires the air to be cool enough for ice to form, but as thin layers, rather than thick. If the wind is just right then you end up with patterns such as the one below.


Fractal frost on a Velux


This morning all of the windows had a nice pattern so I photographed them twice. The first time when they were lit by indirect sunlight and the second time when they were. With direct sunlight you can see the structures more clearly.


If you wait too long though the patterns melt and disappear and you need to wait until the next time the conditions are just right.


This is the first frost of the season. We will have many more such sights in the days and weeks to come.


A fractal pattern with a point of origin branching out


In the pattern above I like that it has a focus, and that the branches grow out of there to create a network of patterns as we see above. It’s entirely different to the other pattern I shared and just as interesting to look at.


The final pattern starts in the lower left corner and branches out, upwards and to the right.


The final pattern is another beautiful example of why good insulation is nice. With good insulation the windows are cool enough for ice to form, without freezing the people who are indoors. It also means that the heat from within the building is not escaping outwards and being wasted. This provides us with a good reason to have double or triple glazing.


And finally


It’s nice to see how different every window was. Every window is completely different from the next, so each pattern is interesting enough to study, to remark on the patterns and shapes that have formed.


Do you look at your windows and fractal patterns? Cars can provide us with the same pleasure.

A Frosty Morning

A Frosty Morning

Byrichard

Yesterday we had rain and with that rain came a night cold enough for everything to be covered in ice. As I came out of the train station in Nyon I could feel my feet slip frequently. In the process walking was treacherous for those who are not experienced with the pleasure of walking on ice. For others it is an opportunity to look for possible pictures.





On a minivan I saw this pattern on the windowscreen. Water seems to have been blown by the wind at just the right speed to create this fun little pattern. It’s the type of pattern we should look for right before defrosting a car. This isn’t my car so I was just looking to see whether it was a boring sheet or more. In this case it looks like pine needles from a pine tree so it’s nice to look at. Nature finds elegant solutions.





The second pattern of interest I saw was on this pond. When the wind is calm during morning hours the building reflects in the pond. Today the reflection includes a pattern of ice, to add character.


Tuesday should be a good day to hunt for possible images. The air temperature is meant to go down to -6c in the morning. It only lasts for one day so it’s not ideal for proper ice pictures but if there is enough wind then the lakeside could look as it did two or three years ago.