EuroLife: Day 51

First Snow!

We had our first snow yesterday, and it snowed throughout most of today. There wasn't much accumulation (if any) in the city but the hills looked beautiful. As is always the case with these things, it's difficult to capture in a photograph, but the picture above was taken yesterday afternoon on our street. The difference between the hills and the city is striking. Michael and I have decided that the heat from the city must keep the snow from accumulating; it's can't simply be the difference in altitude. Our little Jena hills are not very big, and the snow starts to stick as soon as you get away from the city streets.

We did get a tiny bit of accumulation this afternoon, and it was nice to see the way our backyard (well, I call it our backyard) was transformed. I suppose what was really nice, given how minimal this transformation was, was imagining how it will all look when we get some real snow. This is a view from the door to our apartment; the vine-covered wall shown in our very first post is off to the left of this scene. There wasn't much snow at the time, but it was still nice to see the bushes and the swing capped with snow.

From what the weatherman tells us, Jena is scheduled to see the sun again sometime on Monday. This should be very exciting. We almost saw it today; we could definitely tell where it was, and it was trying its best to break through the clouds. Alas, its best was not enough. The snow brightens things up a bit, though, so hopefully that will continue. In the meantime, we have taken to using Michael's sunlamp for some extra lighting around the house from time to time. The sun, or what we see of it, sets at about 4:25 in the afternoon. This is not ideal.

The last picture is of a path that Michael and I sometimes take to and from the Mensa. I just like it; I think it's a lovely way to get from place to place. The building in the background belongs to the University, and it quite old and historic. We have not yet successfully determined exactly what it is, but we will find out one of these days and let you know. I realize how difficult the wait will be, and I apologize :)

I'm sorry I don't have more to say today. I have been taken out by a mighty cold, a cold like no other, and I have been rather lazy. It's hard to share exciting stories without first experiencing said exciting stories, so here we are. Surely my wild & crazy Jena exploring ways will soon return! Until then, there's always the weather.