Endless grey German winter

I can't stand it anymore
and this is a really, really friendly Winter. So far. You never know until April here.

(All of these photos were stolen from the Internet. I'll get my own soon..promise.)

We've only had a few days of snow (not months!) and only a few weeks of horrible frozen solid mud.

I just cannot take the lack of color anymore! The green is year round where I come from, but here....

Most German trees are naked, from November to April. How many months is that.....5?. Holy crap, that's almost half a year of black, grey, brown and white.

But this is a nice Winter. It's 45 out right now.

The geese started flying north last weekend. I was tempted to be hopeful.

I planted my February seeds in two incubators, one for home, one for work. They are supposed to give me hope for the possibility of new life, but I cannot stand it - it's just grey everywhere I look. My horse refuses to go to pasture because there's nothing worth the trip.

I know I have an avoidance problem when it comes to photographing ugly things. But I'll try to get the camera out so you can see the suckitude.

Even WHP a few miles north of us has a storybook quality to his grey. We have no storybook here.

The grass is brown, in hibernation.

Speaking of that, 3 of my goldfish did not survive the long freeze and this morning I found them dead. So sad.  Der, Die, Das, so sorry to lose you to the heartless season.

I think I have 3 more in that pond, I hope. Worse Winters never killed them off so it must just be this grey, they got sick of staring at it and gave it all up.

It's also foggy and dangerous to drive. A good opportunity for me to use those cool fog lights on my car. Sadly the fog dies away when I hit Cologne every day. That city is weather proof.

My friend Tami sent me a photo of my bra trail (have I told you about my bra trail in Fall City?), and it was bright green, with ferns, moss, and tall conifers.... the smell of the Cascades, I've almost forgotten.


I tell myself rationally there will be pale, lime-green leaves in April, but it's so far off, and February had to have this extra day this year.

I dislike you strongly, German Winter. Even the mildest one I've seen yet, I long for the soggy mossy non-stop green of the Evergreen State.

And yet I must admit, there is something about experiencing four distinct seasons. Seattle has rain, rain, less rain, and then rain. It's perfect for me. But here, there's

1. BITTER COLD ASSAULT on MANKIND

2. Innocent pastel beckoning sweetness

3. DEADLY INESCAPABLE HEAT with no A/C

4. falling leaves, lying leaves, crunching leaves forecasting despair.

I'll let you know when it ends - I'll be ecstatic.