Finally!

The Switzerland I came to love last year is back! November, December, and January aren't exactly the brightest months around here. (This is all based on just one year of experience, but I'm told it's fairly typical.) It's foggy in the valleys most mornings, and the fog often sticks around all day. If it's not foggy, it's cloudy. Between December and February, I think I needed my sunglasses three times. I haven't seen the Alps off in the distance for months.

But as I was running up and down the stairs on the hillside for exercise this morning, everything was crystal clear. There's not a cloud in the sky, and I can see the mountains. It's supposed to be 51 degrees today. I'm going to take the kids up to the top of our local mountain, the Zugerberg, to scout out a good restaurant for us to visit with my folks when they come out (and by "us," I mean the adults).

Now, make no mistake: I certainly don't want to trade a Swiss winter in for a Minnesota winter. (Ever.) I think the lowest temperature here at night this winter has been about 15 degrees, and that's above zero. You can get quite a bit of sun in the Twin Cities in the winter, but those clear days are usually accompanied by temperatures of about ten below.

It's my understanding that the Twin Cities had a nasty commute yesterday morning after receiving about seven inches of snow. A commute in the winter in Minnesota can be harrowing at best, life-threatening at worst. On the other hand, my commute in Switzerland has basically three possibilities: if it's snowing, I wear boots; if it's raining, I take an umbrella; and if it's doing neither of those things, I just go. It's a twenty-minute walk regardless. Overall, not a bad way to go.