Country diary: The frost is so bright I can hardly see the stars

Stamford, Lincolnshire: It's the coldest night in winter. I almost enjoy the sense of it working its way inside meIt's the coldest night of the winter. Just hours ago, the world was agleam with wet cold, now - with the dark - it's solid cold. Things that rustled now rattle, and the grass is in a beautiful rigour of felty frost. It catches the moonlight and sparkles, a miracle that turns the colourless and drab suddenly starkly beautiful under the light of the dark.Clear winter nights like this are wonderful for stars. That, and to just go out and feel the cold and its tight silence around you. I stand and breathe deep, exhaling stiff, granular steam. And I start to feel it as it works its way in. Fingers, feet, nose. Then deeper, like an alarm of rising volume. Stand still enough for long enough and it takes hold of your core, a sickly pain, that - left long enough - will stop your life. Continue reading...