First Day of Spring?

On Tuesday, March 20th, the first day of Spring, it snowed AGAIN here in Berlin.  I have to say I was pissed.  I had really dealt so well with the cold dark winter days here.  Maybe I boosted myself up too much and Mother Nature was just biting me in the butt one (or a few) more times for being so cocky. 
I really truly did sit patiently during Berlin's cold, DARK, short days of January, I didn't complain and even embraced the bitterly cold of February and was even cool with the black ice and snow in early March but after that really sunny day a week or so ago I turned a corner.  I retired my "sleeping bag" coat

and threw my hat and clothes in the basket.  Sure, I knew it wasn't going to be sunny and in the 70's.  Duh!!  I knew that but what I didn't know was that another full fledged winter would hit us again and again!

One of the biggest things I appreciated about the warmer weather (other than just the gloriously beautiful and warm - relatively speaking sunshine) was that I didn't have to pack so much crap.  Hauling around my sleeping bag coat - even on my body- is heavy and stifling.  Add to that my gloves and hat and scarf.  Ugh!!  And since we walk everywhere you always have to have it with you. Then you go to the grocery store and you are trying to speedily get through the check out line before some cranky German breathes down your neck or the checker huffs at your inability to put your groceries away before she calls out your

total and you are juggling your hat and gloves and you can't put them in the bottom of you bag because then you can't get to them when you walk back outside into the "winter wonderland" 
Oh, I know... it will pass.  It has to, right?  And I know Seattle has these false winters too.

But Spring, SUNNY and WARM ... I cannot wait for you to truly emerge here in Berlin. 
Until then we will play in the snow.  My Brazilian friend in my German class

loved seeing the snow.  She convinced me to head outside during our 15 minute break and take a few photos.   It really was the fluffiest and softest powder snow I've felt in a very long time.  After class I had a Dr appointment.  I told Marty to lay out the kids' snow pants and snow clothes so they could play it in when they returned from school.  It had JUST started snowing as they left for school in the morning.  But sadly it had all melted by the time they got home.