A Real Winter

Having grown up mostly in the South and having experienced mostly mild winters in Germany since moving here, this is the first time in almost fifty years that I have experienced a real winter.  A low front named Daisy brought snow on January 9 that covered the entire country -- the so-called geschlossene Schneedecke.  I bet that looks neat from space.  We have had snow on the ground ever since.  The temperatures have not been extremely cold.  Using my trusty metric converter I can tell you that the lows rarely get below about 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10° C).  It generally gets close to 32°F each day, or even a bit warmer, just enough to allow a bit of thaw and to prevent large amounts of snow from collecting in the streets.  But it snows regularly, sometimes daily, allowing the geschlossene Schneedecke to maintain a pristine gloss.  I'm the only one in the family not complaining about snow.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime treat for me.  Had I spent years in Michigan or Ohio, I'd certainly be dreaming of Florida by now.  I just opened up the balcony door for a few minutes to let in some fresh air as a new round of snow began to fall.  Boy is the air clear.  To let in fresh air is called to "Lüften" (literally "to air"; Luft = air).  That will be the subject of a later post.  There is a whole science and philosophy about Lüften, and Frau Bloggerboy and I have a running dispute about the proper way to Lüften.  Whenerver one German decides to Lüften, another German usually complains that "es zieht" (there's a draft).  It's a German thing.