A Long Winter

This afternoon, as I was curled up on my couch under the window with a book and a cup of tea, I looked out the window and saw some very ominous clouds and decided I had better go do the grocery shopping right then, rather than waiting another hour (as I had planned) and probably getting stuck outside when those clouds broke.

Outside, it was freezing, much colder than expected, and my teeth chattered as I rattled down the little alleys, able to go at breakneck speed as it's Sunday and there's hardly a soul on the streets.

I zipped through the store, getting held up only when I had to wait in line, first to get to the canned tomatoes and second, to get to the half-full organic milk. (I don't know why but the grocery store is always crowded on Sundays, contrasting with the rest of the town.)

On my way back home, I felt specks of moistness. I would get home just before the rain hit.

Inside, I ran to my room, then back to the kitchen to put things in the refrigerator when I glanced outside and saw big puffy snowflakes circling down.

This has been one long, crazy winter for me. Probably the snowiest of my life. We had a big snow day here in November, and it snowed without sticking several other times before I went home to Portland for Christmas break. There, we had a week of heavy snowfall, and after that, freezing weather more or less until I came back to Middelburg.

Here, it's been below freezing for days. This past week it warmed up a little.. but not much. It snowed on Monday, and stayed most of the day (that's when these photos were taken) - absolutely making the day for me, one I had been dreading.

It's not the snow that's so amazing, though - I've seen snow before, and I've seen it enough in Middelburg. I still think it makes everything incredibly beautiful, especially here, but I was much more surprised last Saturday when I went for a walk, on a beautiful sunny but cold day, and turned a corner to see a huge stretch of canal icing over (see picture below).

I had walked to the library with a housemate and her boyfriend, who told me that not only in Friesland were people ice skating on the canals again, but even in Zeeland, it was possible. People had skated from Middelburg to Veere - about a half hour away by bike.

Oh, how can I have missed that? What could possibly be more picturesque than ice skating on a Zeeuws canal?!?