It has snowed AGAIN!!
This past week Thursday was warm (10 Celsius) and the last bits of snow had melted. But Saturday brought a new light coating and now as I report from my living room there’s a fresh thick layer from last night and more coming down. It is all white and pure and, as ever, fluffy. Jon says this kind of moist light snow which piles on trees and bushes like pillows is rare in Iowa, but here it seems it’s the only kind they have. A new fairyland about once a week!
Thoughts of skiing were put aside this weekend, mostly because Jon was still recovering from a cold and the strain of the winter concert schedule. Instead we plowed through planning for the sabbatical. We will have no computer with us and we are aware of the difficulties we had on past trips finding our way, finding food, finding campgrounds. So these cold dark winter nights are spent in true European style: planning vacation.
After spending all Saturday indoors on the computers, I insisted on a walk Sunday afternoon. Jon was a bit skeptical of heading into the woods, knowing the paths would be muddy, but I so prefer to be engulfed by life, rather than surrounded by the concrete boxes of town. He’s still fascinated by figuring out where all the paths lead so we headed down a few not yet taken. We came to a section of path lined by a fence of huge rocks. Leaning over the fence, we saw a canyon with a steep wall so flat and smooth, Jon was sure it was concrete. Following the track further and going around the fence we came to a road leading into the canyon where it became obvious this is the quarry of Ostermundigen which we had heard of from a co-worker.
We’ve seen other quarries where rock or sand are being taken out, but here this exceptionally solid and consistent stone is cut out in large blocks. What looks like stripes are seams where the cuts were made.
