This year's winter seems to be a little more persistent than in recent years, even though we may have had a little more snow last time. But the snow is staying around longer, and at least in January, I felt it was colder than usual. But since winter and snow can also be quite charming, I always try to see the beautiful side of this season.
And that's exactly why on one winter's day I took the opportunity to take a little detour and visit a larger shrine in our area. This shrine is located very close to the sea, and I have often taken a few walks around the grounds and the surrounding woods. I had to skip the walk through the woods this time, but I still wanted to visit the shrine again on this nice winter's day.
It wasn't snowing, and every now and then even the sun came out, so I was more than happy to accept this invitation.
The shrine is a bit older, but looks somewhat newer due to some renovations. The entrance gate in particular looks as if it has just been erected. Even though it is already several years old, you can still smell the wood that was used to build it.
Even though it wasn't snowing, there was still a lot of snow on the ground. Not huge amounts, but enough to give the whole place a very special atmosphere...
...which, as expected, made a great impression on me. Especially because there weren't many people around, which added to the peaceful and solemn atmosphere at this place.
The main path had been cleared, of course, as well as another path leading to a rack where you can tie up your horoscope if you don't like it. In this case, you hope that the fate that has been promised to you will just pass you by.
Here we are in front of the main building, and as you can see, the sky now was partly blue. With the sun directly in front of me, it wasn't always easy to take good pictures. But normally, we don't get to see the sun very often, so I'd better not complain too loudly.
We are currently in the Year of the Horse, which is still very evident here at this shrine. The New Year celebrations were already over, but fortunately the decorations had not yet been taken down. I paused for a moment at the altar and took some time to reflect. Hopefully this year will be a successful and happy one for me and my small team, as well as for everyone else around us.
My tour took me once around the compound, during which I couldn't resist taking a whole bunch of photos again. I try to delete some of them right afterwards, but the others often end up in a blog post like this one.
And it surely looked good! There, where in a few months we will see green grass growing, on that day there was a white blanket of snow. And this view made the atmosphere here in this shrine even more intense. That was exactly why I had come here, and that was exactly how I wanted to feel.
And then it was time to head to my car again. But not without taking one last long look back. Even though I'm not religious, I like places like this one, where you can feel a very special stimulating but also relaxing atmosphere that quickly captivates you.
And I'll be back again, probably on a beautiful spring day. Then I'll likely take a similar route to today's and hopefully also through the forest over there. Because that's even more fun, and I'm really looking forward to it. And who knows, maybe I'll take a few more pictures that will make it into a post like this one...
