Hello friends! Long time, no see. We’re terribly sorry about that and we’ll try to catch up, but at the moment, we thought we’d update you on what’s going on here. Namely, winter. This is our second winter here in Switzerland and so far, it’s been quite a bit snowier this year than last, but not as cold. Last year in February, we experienced, ‘la bise” or “the kiss”--an intense wind that blows from the north and down Lake Geneva. It dropped the temperature to the single digits and froze the water spray along the lakefront into some amazing designs. Fortunately, we haven’t had that pleasure so far this year.
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| February 2012-La Bise creates some beautiful art |
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| And some big problems! |
But we’ve had snow. Lots and lots of snow--much more than last year. In Duillier, we’re at an elevation of about 400 m. That’s high enough from the Lake that we’re two or 3 degrees F cooler than at the lakefront, but below the snow line, which generally is about 800 m and above which we can usually see snow. We had our first snow in early December, but it didn’t last. However, in the last two days, we’ve probably had close to 18” of snow at our elevation. That’s a lot of shoveling. It felt like we would never stop shoveling snow. Actually, it felt like Groundhog Day. CW and SoulSwister got up yesterday and shoveled. By the time we were done, the driveway was covered and we had to shovel again. CW made it into Geneva by bus and train and it was a mess. You’d think for a city nestled in the Alps, they’d know how to handle snow. They don’t. Then we got up this morning to the same thing. “It’s cold out there, campers!” But we did manage to get out around the village and take some pictures.
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| Snow 2013 |
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| Looks like a church, but it's a house |
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| The vineyards are sleeping |
Last year, as you might recall, we weren’t able to avail ourselves of winter sporting. This year, the family has been taking ski lessons every week in Megève, France with “Megève Mike” (http://www.facebook.com/megevemike), a Colorado native who lives in Europe and teaches skiing. SoulSwister, SweetSwissTeen, Twisted Swisster, and All-American Boy have been going every week since the end of December. CW has been able to join a couple of times. Megève is about an hour and a half from Nyon and is a great place. Easy enough for beginners, but with lots of advanced runs (or so it appears to the novices). Everyone has really enjoyed it. The key to skiing is “making orange juice.” Any guesses as to what that might mean?Unfortunately, SweetSwissTeen has a bit of a back issue now, so her ski season is over.
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| Ducks in a row |
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| Outside Megeve |
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| Brakes? |
We also went on AAB’s annual Scouting weekend to Kandersteg at the International Scout Camp. AAB, TwistedSwister and CW had a fun day skiing (well, two of the three skied. One sort of fell in a semi-controlled manner down the hill and off the T-bar lift). We also did the town’s sled run. It’s in the middle of the town and is about a 2 km long. Lots of fun, until you have to lug your sled back up the hill to the start. The Scouts and families have a great time.
Well, CW was afraid it was beginning to snow again in earnest, but all is peaceful now. They say (whoever ‘they’ are) that it’s supposed to be mostly sunny tomorrow. We’ll see. We haven’t seen the sun much this winter. Looking down across the lake, you’d think the world ended just the other side. Mont Blanc has been visible maybe 10 days since October. But spring is coming--we hope! After all, Groundhog Day can’t last forever! (Can it???)
