abqtoadam: Snow

I have had mixed feelings about the Dutch winter. The average high in January is 42 (6), and the average low is 33 (1), which seems pretty mild (as a reference, my last home, Albuquerque, had average January temperatures of 48 and 24) . And this winter has been warm by those standards; I barely needed a jacket to be outside during New Years eve. So temperature wise, I've found the winter to be quite pleasant

In contrast, the lack of daylight has been a challenge. In much of December and January, the sun did not rise until around 9am, and it set before 4:30pm. Days are usually overcast, so sunlight is scarce. Generally, it's depressing.

After returning from the sunny and warm American Southwest, I was happy to find that the skies had cleared from how I'd left them, even if temperatures dropped a bit (highs a bit below freezing). Sunlight shined throughout the week, and the sun began rising earlier and setting later.

When the clouds rolled back in, the temperature was friendly enough to stay low, and we received snows instead of rain. The forecast called for only a dusting of snow in the morning. But it fell all throughout the morning as I proctored the final exam for the course I taught in January. It fell through much of the rest of the afternoon, and I got to see flakes fluttering through moderate winds outside my window at work.

I went to an expat event that evening. I brushed two inches of snow off of my bike seat, handlebars, and tires, and carefully road down my street to the bike path that would typically be packed with bikers on a Friday evening. Instead of having to wait for a dozen bikes to pass before getting on the road, I was the only one out. It felt as ghostly as Christmas day. The snow dampened the sounds from those few people who were around.

I managed to not crash my bike in the slippery snow and ice on the mile ride to and from the bar, but I did see one Dutch girl hit the pavement rather hard. She stayed down for about thirty seconds before picking herself up. She was with five others, and they looked on to see what would happen while she was prone on the road. She probably had a pretty wicked body bruise greeting her this morning. This was around 12:30am, so I have a feeling that alcohol contributed to the crash.

The high today stayed well below freezing, so there was not much snow melt. The city remained more subdued than usual, with many less on the bikes on the road, and more parents walking their with their children, and more dog owners dressing their dogs in sweaters for their walks.

The scene of bikes untouched after the snowfall was both common and amusing:

Much of the Amstel was covered with a solid sheet of ice. Though the middle of the river was still sufficiently clear of ice that a few boats could pass through.

After pushing a large barge filled with some sandy material up the Amstel, a boat turned into one of the canals that connects with the IJ (pronounced like "eye"). The bridge was raised, and I waited with others for several minutes for it to be lowered. The gentleman operating the bridge device had some serious problems lowering the bridge. He repeated crashed the north and south halves against each other, and was forced to raise and lower them again. I was concerned that he was going to destroy the both sides with the impacts, and that we would be stranded from crossing the waters. After a while, he did merge the two sides together, and the pedestrians, cyclists, and cars poured into the reconstructed bridge.

It apparently only costs 9 euro to have two servings of a mixture of two of the foulest drinks sold in bars.

Apparently the one-stop stop for cat accessories.

In the Red Light District. The prostitutes were more aggressive than normal today. I think they were feeling the squeeze of the lack of business in the cold weather. I saw them opening their doors and shouting down men. I escaped with only taps on the windows as I walked past.