Coldest Yet... and Soon Over

Some time ago, after the deep freeze of -20 degrees Celsius which lasted two weeks, it started to snow.  So much snow.  I don't even want to recall how freaking miserable it was to be living in such harsh weather, and the central heating also decided to take a break then and we all had to spend one night sleeping in our scarves, jackets, hats because it was just unbearably cold.  I even had a scary thought that I might wake up to see tiny frozen corpses the next morning, because there were many reported deaths across Europe and one of the reasons being people frozen to death due to inadequate heating in the house.

Walking in that kind of cold is not a pleasant experience.  If I had a choice, I would really give it a pass.  You get frostbite on your nose and cheeks.  I had never come back from outside, looked myself in the mirror, and seen red, not rosy, blinking red cheeks.  Yes, it is cool to experience all sorts of temperature, but when it dipped to this low, it is not funny anymore.  I remembered I almost broke out in tears after sending Johann to the kindergarten because it was simply. Just. Too. Cold. 

Even the weathered Europeans also couldn't stop complaining about the cold, much less for a person who had lived all her life in the tropics.  My sissy asked how cold is -18 degrees Celsius, how to describe?  That's the temperature in a deep freezer, the freezer compartment of a refrigerator is usually -6 or -10, depending on the setting.  So imagine putting yourself in the deep freezer, but that imagination is hard for one to make, unless you have been there before.

After the crazy cold two weeks, when the temperature rose to -10, it instantly felt warmer.  It was like spring!  The frowns on the faces turned to smiles.  The depressed mood lifted and was replaced with joy.  It's amazing how the weather can severely impact one's mood.

Then it started to snow, snow and snow.  So much snow.  

Full whiteness.  The snow covered our terrace, making it hard to tell where the garden starts.  The snow on the walkway to our front gate was just cleared but snow kept falling down.  

I want to show how much snow there is, that's my fully stretched hand and my thumb is not touching the ground, nor  is my little finger ever reaching the top of the snow.

Maybe this one shows the thickness of the snow better.  Apart from bright and white everywhere you turn to, the other only good thing about so much snow is it forces me to workout by clearing the snow. 

This is how I look after clearing god-knows-how-many-kilos of snow.

It snowed so much, there were even snow blizzards, it was so interesting to watch.  At that moment, I could immediately understand the sense of security the third little pig had when the big black wolf was huffing and puffing at his house.  I managed to capture a short clip of it, the blizzard, that is.  Not the wolf.  

Hmm... the resolution of the video has been reduced drastically after the upload, it is impossible to see the snow at all, you could only hear me talking to my sissy and my mom on the phone.  

When the blizzard is mild, walking through it can be a rather giggly experience.  That was what happened to Johann and I one morning when we walked to his kindergarten.  The wind was blowing the snow in all directions.  Sometimes it would blow at us, causing us to have to push our way through, with our heads hanging low.  The tiny snowflakes would get into our mouths, eyes and noses, somewhat tickling us.  Then the wind would take a change of direction and give us a good push on our backs, making it quite effortless to walk.  I wouldn't want to be caught in a strong blizzard, a snow storm.  No, it would not be that exciting. 

I am relieved the weather is slowly becoming warmer, after all, spring is approaching.  It is time, after the mad coldness, or cold madness, anyway.  I must admit living in a country with four seasons opens up my perspectives of many things in many ways.  It propels one to look forward to something nice, in my case, spring and then summer.  It's a warm, fuzzy feeling.  I like.