And the snow still falls.........................

Well, I did say that it was snowing, didn't I? 

It has not stopped. The world is white this morning, and the snow blowers and snowplows have been out and are still out clearing the roads and paths and life simply goes on as normal, if a little slower.

There is no sun, of course, because the white stuff is still blowing about, but a monochrome world can be beautiful too.We went down the mountain at a snail's pace because you had to, and the snowplows (ploughs - both work in the dictionary although I lean toward the plough myself!) were ahead of us. Everyone here has winter tyres on their cars, and Marge and Peter's car is a 4 wheel drive too, but we were almost down the mountain when Marge, who was driving, announced that she NEVER goes down when the roads are like this. She coped perfectly. The next time I go down the mountain, I will be on my way home. Sigh. 

So, we spent a few hours in another shopping centre, and had breakfast there. It is lovely to see all the different Christmas stuff, and we always look at the toys and assorted Missy-kind of things. She is growing up so quickly, and we are skipping about trying to keep up with her new ideas of play time. We love it. 

So, after a trip to Lidl for essential greenery of the food variety, we set off up the mountain, and it was even slower coming up, because there were coaches ahead. This one we crawled past, had not put on its chains, so had to stop and all the passengers had to get out and stand in the snow while the driver sorted that ridiculous oversight. You do not bring coachloads of people up steep and windy mountain roads with hairpin bends without chains when it is snowing hard. 

And it is snowing down the mountain too, so there was no excuse. Sometimes, the road up is closed to all except 4 wheel drive cars and those with chains. 

And we are back up in the valley safely. I used the mega snow shovel to clear the drive a little after we got back. The snow is easy to move, but not after you compact it with a full car. Then, in a saintly fashion, I announced that I was going to go out and take snow pictures. "You have to, don't you", said my sister, as she carried on unpacking winter...........

Some of the soft snowmen and reindeer looking out at the snow on the balcony off the lounge. They will all be in place before the day is out. Neither Marge nor I got to bed before 1.30am. The crash will occur tomorrow morning, when we can laze in our beds for as long as we like. Thank heavens - I can't stand the pace! 

The garden is now blanketed with snow and you cannot see any mountains at all. So just imagine them in the background.

Remember the photo I took yesterday? This is what it looks like today.

The ski jump is starting to look really good now, as well.

And here is another shot of the Kurpark, like yesterday's one, only very different with the piles of snow!

To Marge and Peter, this is normal. I wonder if it would ever become normal to me? I really doubt it. I just want to be out there walking about in it, even though that probably sounds crazy to those of you so used to it. There are only a few days left of our stay now, and I want to imprint it all on the memory, and capture it on camera, so that I can take it all out and turn it over in my mind, and remember. 

But there is so much to look forward to as well, of course! 

I thought last night of something I meant to tell you all, and now I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. This happens far too often. Oh yes, now I remember. I am still reading John Ortberg's Who is This Man? and I know I mentioned it to you ages ago. It is a really fascinating book, but not light reading. Anyway, I am nearly at the end, and he quoted someone - I forget who right now- who said that the 2 greatest revolutions in the history of man have been farming and Jesus. I knew that the world had pivoted with the life of Jesus, but farming was not something I had ever thought of at all. 

Don't you love it when someone says something and a light bulb goes off in the brain and you have the a-ha! Eureka! moment yourself? 

Of course farming changed man from hunter gathers to plonk yourself down and build a community kind of people. The world changed as building began. Communities were born. Discoveries made, machines invented, social interaction became more complex and the world changed forever. Societies were formed.

 A discovery was made that if you drop or lose one seed, instead of loss, you will gain so much more when it grows into a new plant, a tree, food. Seeds in and of themselves are useless. 

Once you start thinking about it you realise any number of spin-offs which had their birth in those days. Fascinating, isn't it? 

The seed leads me to the next profound point John Ortberg made. The seed has to die for something to be born from it. The seed has to die for fruit to be born. The Son of Man had to die for the world to be saved. The seed, the son. 

He says it all so much better than I do, of course. But it is worth pondering. 

It has taken me ages to read it. It takes ages to read anything, and I keep falling asleep and forgetting what I have just read, but some things stick. So writing them down here may help me to remember. 

And now I need to go and put on the winter cushion covers and position Marge's herd of reindeer who flew out of the loft last night. 

PS: it is still snowing................