Schnee

Lots and lots of schnee (snow), whether you are here in Europe, on the east coast of the US or facing the greatest avalanche danger ever recorded in Colorado.

Lots of schnee.

But until it’s damaging, it’s absolutely beautiful.  I love it.  Even when I’m having to spend two hours shoveling.

This past Tuesday, looking down at the village of Colmberg, Germany from the overlook at the Colmberg Castle.

Here at home, this same storm dumped 5″ of snow, which promptly melted off.  And made room for the new 5″+ that fell on Christmas Eve.

The same snow that will make tomorrow’s bicycle commute to work very entertaining.

Snowy Candle

Holding its own against the blowing snow.

Waiting for a cup of glühwein to be set down next to it.

After the Glüwein’s gone…

“Oh, the humanity!”

OK, maybe not on that scale, but it’s a tragedy when you’re hoping for one last cup before headed home, only to discover that they’ve shut down the Weinachtsmarkt.

But then again, that’s the best time to get some photos, especially when they turn off the glaring lights on the Käthe Wohlfahrt pyramid, which just hours before was lit so bright that it overwhelmed the surroundings and made for horrible photos.

The nice thing about long exposures (20 seconds in this case) is that you really do not get a feel for how hard it was snowing at this time.

And that was before it really started coming down.  We woke up to 4+ inches on the ground the next morning.