snow treks

It has been a long, cold winter here in Germany, and we have a couple months of it left. Fortunately we get reprieves from time to time, like today, that make me love winter again. The problem with winter is how dark it is. The days are short and the clouds are thick. I am overjoyed at what they call sunbreaks; moments of sunshine between the clouds. It makes me smile to see it peek out. Today my face might crack with grinning because it is truly sunny. Not just peeks, not patches of blue sky, but whole swaths of it. Just a few clouds blowing past. It was so gorgeous that I was actually enticed outside!

They called for twenty inches of accumulation this weekend, but thankfully, we only ended up with about five inches and sunshine, so I bundled up and headed out. There are several Nordic walking paths that connect to my village, and I even found a park and a restaurant up behind it! The best part is that each little village is nestled in farmland, so it only takes five minutes walking to be in smooth, open, beautiful fields and hills of snow. I made a snow angel, threw some snowballs, and watched the neighborhood kids sled down some favorite hills. I was bundled well enough to even crash in the snow for awhile and just enjoy the sunshine. You'll notice I couldn't resist taking a picture of my own new sparkly against the sparkly snow. (Yes, I know it's on the wrong finger. I'll get it sized when I come home. :)

A gem of a day today. And the sun is still shining!

Otterbach