The Neutral Zone

Zurich, Switzerland - Spring is coming to Switzerland in fits and spurts. The arrival of spring is more dramatic here compared to our native California, at least with respect to daylight and temperature. At this latitude (47.3769 degrees North), we get a mere 8.5 hours of sunlight in December. Now that we're in March, we can expect close to 12 hours a day, and in April, we'll get 13.67 hours. The temperatures have increased haltingly. We're in the period now where we oscillate rapidly in the course of a week from a pleasant 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit to a less-than-ideal 35-40 degrees Fahrenheit (usually coupled with rain). Though the deciduous trees remain barren, small flowers - like snowdrops - have begun to sprout up here and there.  Thus our time for snowshoeing is drawing to a close and so H and I have been venturing into the Alps each weekend to make the most of our few remaining opportunities. Stoos Stoos is a resort village / mountain in the canton Schwyz (neith...

Zurich, Switzerland - In our two winters in Zurich, we've experienced two extremes. Last winter was historically warm and mild, with perhaps one day of snow that didn't stick (to my recollection). In stark contrast, this year has seen record snowfall. On January 14-15, heavy snow blanketed much of Switzerland. In Zurich, we received about a foot of snow in twenty-four hours, which was the most city had seen in fifty years. For H and me, this was surprising, since we sort of imagined the snowfall here would be more like Boston, but apparently the weather is tamer than we thought.  The recent snow storm was significant enough to shut down Zurich's mass transit system, which is remarkable given how much the city prides itself in the system and relies on it. That did not stop intrepid Zurichers from getting around, however. The citizenry was observed getting around by skis , sleds , and bicycles. Regarding the latter, I must say folks here are impressively committed to their tw...

Zurich, Switzerland - As the title suggests, H and I have been embarking on a variety of winter escapades over the last month. The most surprising aspect of this is that H is the driving force behind our galivanting. Over the course of our time here, H has discovered that she likes the outdoors rather more than she thought prior to our arrival, and this newfound appreciation has expanded to also include outdoor activities in the winter. H detested winter weather and activities prior to her arrival here. To be fair, her most recent experience with cold, snowy winter included several scarring trips to visit Lake Tahoe: during one trip she contracted an agonizing eye infection and in another a blizzard extended our drive to nine hours and finally forced us to abandon our car in the yard of a neighboring property before we reached our destination. So she may have had some cause to be suspicious. But here in Switzerland she's become rather taken with winter and its ability to transform ...