SNOW!

For Presidents' Day Weekend, we got snow both Friday night and Saturday night. Both nights it was around 6 inches of snow. We were glad we hadn't made any travel plans. Sunday afternoon, we went out to the fields and found lots of kids from our village at a wonderful place for sledding. We had a great time.

Monday night, it snowed again, even more than before. We expected to hear that Tuesday (2/22) was a Snow Day, but even though the roads in our area were "Condition Red," the boys only got a one-hour delay. (The decision is made at Ramstein, where the roads were only "Condition Amber.")

Tuesday afternoon, I needed to get a prescription refill on base. I don't like driving in snow, so I rode on base with Steve and then walked home--It's downhill and an easy walk. Most of the way was on a path that was fairly clear, but for the last bit I took a shortcut through the field. The snow was up to my knees! Walking in snow that deep was a new experience for this California girl, but I really enjoyed it. Of course, the ups and downs of the field were covered by the snow, so with each step I didn't know if it would be ankle-deep or knee-deep. Since I could see the tops of long grasses, I was pretty sure I wouldn't get in over my head, anyway!

Tuesday night, we got yet more snow, but again the boys didn't get a Snow Day. It kept snowing until about noon, then stopped for several days, with temperatures dropping down to single digits Fahrenheit, so the snow only melted in direct sunlight.

Although each individual snowfall wasn't anything new, in our nine winters in Germany, this was the most snow we've ever seen on the ground at one time. (And more than I ever saw on the ground in New Jersey or Illinois, either.) And it's sticking around longer than snow usually does, still here on March 4th.

Saturday night (the 26th), we got another dump of snow on top of what had gone before, this time blown especially hard by the wind. Our driveway made a wind tunnel so that in some parts the pavement showed and in other parts the snow was a couple of feet deep. Steve was out of town, and it took me about an hour to shovel our driveway and sidewalks clear.

Monday afternoon, Timothy and I went sledding again. Other kids had gone sledding on Sunday, so the snow was packed into a slick coating. Our sled went about five times faster than it had gone the week before in powdery snow! We had to try to slow ourselves down at the bottom to keep from landing in the bushes.

This week brought no more snow. Things are the way I like it--clear, dry roads, but lots of beautiful snow on the fields. The forecast is for more snow this weekend, though.

Below are pictures of all this beautiful snow.