One of the greatest paradigm shifts that I experience each time I move back to Europe is learning to live with four seasons. This is my third time to live in Germany (having moved here in 1993, 2001, and 2017), and each time the seasons change it is as though the greatest revelation is unfolding before my eyes and I rediscover creation all over again. The seasons are so distinct from one another, each with their own character that I have come to appreciate and adjust to. At the core of my bones I will always yearn for sea and tropical weather, but there is a certain magic to the four seasons that I cannot deny looking forward to now.
The transition from summer to autumn is always a bit of a shock to the system, having spent the last three months in lighter clothing and dispensing of mundane burdens such as jackets and boots. I felt at home with the world again in dresses and sandals, cold drinks and ice creams! Now it is time to dust off the teapots, ensure the food warmers are all in working order, and sadly, the sandals get demoted to the bottom of the shoe rack again. With 13c in the mornings and 5:00am still being pitch dark, I definitely know Autumn is just around the corner, although the trees refuse to play along yet.
Much to the horror of my tennis coach, I will not be joining the winter indoor training this year, courtesy of my shoulder. So the question is, what do I do about sports now? Berlin winters are dreadful and not at all enticing to do anything outdoors, although most of the residents here will disagree with me. The prospect of becoming a winter couch potato is so unglamorously unappealing, and doing Zumba alone in my living room is just too depressing. Join a gym! many of you will say, but that is even more effort, since there is none within walking distance from me, so I would have to cart my gym stuff with me to work. Ugh. These are the times I wish I had a car. So treadmill at home it is.
A treadmill in the conservatory, hidden amongst the voluminous shrubbery growing there, and facing an open window where a peach and cherry tree are growing turned out to be a marvelous solution! All three cats, however, are speechless at the new monstrosity I have introduced in the household. Just when they thought everything was finally peaceful, here I go and scare the daylights out of them. It is a very quiet machine, so there is nothing to fear there, but the fact that keep moving but seem to go anywhere is something my three little girls fail to wrap their feline brains around, no matter how hard they try. Champagne even mistook it for a new and improved toilet, and stared in horror when it was set in motion.
What?! How do you expect me to pee on that now?
She waited for Treadzilla to stop before she blessed it. Hrmph.
Since then I keep it folded up. Long story short, winter couch surfing is cancelled.
FrogDiva Thoughts 