Incoherent Scribblings

A Snow Story

Snow Bike
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian.

Coming from Iowa I am no stranger to snow storms or deep snow, but even if this was my bicycle I don’t think it would do me much good to ride it to the train station today.

Since yesterday the Munich area has received approximately 50 centimeters (or about 20 inches) of snow and all public transportation apart from the underground (aka subway) has stopped running. And according to the news, yesterday and today you could/can expect 20-80 kilometer traffic jams, delayed or canceled flights, and disrupted train traffic.

A spokesman for the traffic police in Bavaria warned that those who do not absolutely have to go somewhere should stay at home and so that is exactly what A. and I have done this weekend: We left the car in the garage, watched the chaos on TV, and have periodically gone outside to play in the snow.

However, as we were trudging through the snow this morning snickering at the poor souls who dug their cars out from under the snow only to get stuck in the drift that all their digging had created, I was reminded of how when I was a kid I would get so frustrated because my parents didn’t want to brave the roads during a snow storm.

I especially thought that my mom was a wimp because at the first sign of a slippery road she would hang up her coat and tell us if we thought we needed toilet paper that badly we should just walk ourselves the eight miles into to town and get it. Of course once I got old enough to drive and after I ended up sliding into a ditch or two myself, my whole attitude about driving in the snow completely changed.

Now, as a native Midwesterner I had no choice but to learn to drive in the snow and even though I have not lived in Iowa for nearly ten years, I can still drive in the snow… even if I have to drive an ancient rear-wheel drive car.

And as a result of that “confidence,” on the day that we got a slight dusting of snow when I was in Iowa a few weeks ago I decided that I just had to run some errands. Without much thought to the snow, the small hill that my mom’s house is on, or the retaining wall kitty-corner from her house, I jumped into my 1980 rear-wheel drive Chevy Malibu with its studded tires and stepped on the gas… And promptly slid around the corner and came face to face with the retaining wall.

But like the proverbial “bike riding,” as soon as I felt the slide I remembered exactly how to steer out of it… which is why instead of hitting that wall I stopped in front of it with about an inch and a half to spare!

Weihnachtsmarkt (The German Christmas Market)

O Tannenbaum
Originally uploaded by blondelibrarian.

The Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas Markets) of Germany are a unique, centuries-old tradition, that according to German Info, began as little more than winter markets that only lasted for a couple of days. However, today they last throughout Advent and while they serve as a market for traditional Christmas ornaments such as nutcrackers, wooden figurines, straw stars, glass balls, and tin tree ornaments, they are also a festive meeting place for tourists and locals alike.

Munich has numerous Christmas Markets in different areas of the city and today I visited the Christmas Market in Marienplatz. Though many things can be found at the Weihnachtsmärkte nowadays, the one in Marienplatz with its numerous stalls offering handmade Christmas ornaments is, in my opinion, very traditional.

I really enjoyed browsing around and though I normally take pleasure in being a humbug, today I even bought an ornament or two. After all, if I someday want to start celebrating Christmas again it will only work to my advantage if I already have a handful of ornaments to hang on my tree!

Book Worm

I take my seat on the S-Bahn in preparation for my 30 minute journey into town, guiltily pull the new English-language book out of my purse instead of the German one that I have less than a hundred pages to finish, open the cover to page one, and begin to read. I quickly scan the first paragraph and determine that I am intrigued enough to continue, so I settle back and begin to read The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

At first the story is merely good, but by the time that I faintly realize that the next stop is my stop I am quite engaged. I put the book back in my purse, disembark from the train, and spend the next couple of hours running my errands.

Eventually I decide it is time to go home and proceed to the station to wait for the train that will return me to my little village outside of Munich. I have about ten minutes before my train arrives, so while I wait I peer into my packages and am satisfied that I have purchased all the items that were on my list. I think that since I started the English book on the way into town, I should be good and read the German book on the way home. But there are still about eight minutes before my train comes and because I must concentrate so hard to read German, obviously not enough time to properly continue reading it.

Therefore, I choose The Time Traveler’s Wife instead, thinking that once I get settled on the train I will replace it with the German book. Seven minutes and 59 seconds later when the train pulls into the station the German book has been forgotten. Niffenegger’s story has my full attention and I don’t even mark my place as I walk to the train: I keep reading and only glance up to verify that I am not about to trip when I embark.

I sit down, hastily arrange my packages, and am quickly reimmersed in Henry and Clare’s story. The journey home is strangely silent and the electronic voice that announces the stops along the way seems tinny and far away. The train makes its stops one after the other, but I am completely oblivious as to how many we have made because I am greedily turning page after page as I follow Henry as he drops from one time into another.

The train stops and seems to be briefly suspended in time. Curious, I glance up and suddenly realize that I have reached my stop. With the book still wide open, I hurriedly finish my sentence as I gather my things and disembark seconds before the train continues on its way.

Frosting: Not Just for Cake!

So, I will try not to make this just another boring weather report… Anyway, the last few days have been really cold and foggy here in the Munich area. You know that old saying about how the fog is so thick you could cut it with a knife? Yeah, that kind of fog.

Apparently, we have been under some sort of “inversion layer,” and as a consequence it has been colder and foggier down here at 500 meters than it has been up in the Alps. However, the most interesting aspect of this phenomenon is the layer of frost we have received.

It started out some days ago just as a general frost. The grass was white when I got up in the morning, but because of the fog and lack of sun, instead of melting off later in the day, it stuck around. Day after day the frost kept sticking and the result was the last two or three days everything is so covered in frost it looks like it snowed! (As far as I know, there was no snow reported here anyway.) Even if it did snow, however, the majority of the white stuff on the trees, the grass, and everything else is frost. You can tell it is frost, because if you look at it up close, you can see the crystals. It is really quite neat.

This morning it looked to be sunny and clear for the first time since the “frosting” occurred. Since it is still cold, the sun isn’t melting the frost off things too quickly and in the shade the frost is still quite thick. I have seen this type of “frosting” before, but seldom does it last in the sunshine, so before it warmed up too much, I thought I would take some pictures.

This is my favorite:

This is a fence behind our apartment building which was still in the shade at about noontime. Notice not only the long crystals, but also the fact that they are sticking out horizontally. Copyright and photo by Renée, the blondelibrarian.