( T.S. Eliot's poetic masterpiece; a bit like Joyce's 'Ulysses', I found it dead difficult to read...)

I bunked off work yesterday, and went for an invigorating walk on Cleeve Common - at a little over 1000 feet, it's the highest point of the Cotswolds, and can thus have its own little micro-climate going on, totally different to the weather just a mile away down in Cheltenham at the foot of the hill. And so it was - in town, no snow just lots of frost and temps around the freezing point - up on the hill, lots of snow (by UK standards!! This isn't Canada or Russia!!!), temps hovering around -5C, and a slight wind from the east...which made for a bracing walk, I can tell you!

But what struck me most was the desolate feel of the place - everybody was back at work (well, apart from me!), all the schools were back, so there was only the occasional dog walker for company - mile after mile of no people, pale blue skies and white ground....and barely a sound anywhere; I could have been on the moon for all I know. So, I took this shot thinking of the Challenge even though the seasons are to pot (The Waste Land's famous opening line quotes April)

Ten mins for this one - a bit of a Curve on the foreground to bring out the contrasts, then Smart Sharpen on it as well. I desaturated via a B&W Adjustment Layer as per yesterday's peas, but used custom settings. Lastly, another pass with Smart Sharpen, and resized for the web

Tuesday 5th's icicle-cold-but-yet-invigorating entry to the Challenge; click here for other monochromed Pbasers in January