Too much of a good thing...

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow.....I personally like it. There's something magical about it. Been snowing since before Christmas so that makes it to almost 2 months of record breaking snow fall since the last 30 years in Germany. Berlawan-lawan countries with 4 seasons in terms of the worst snow fall. UK katanya since the last 70 years, parts of US some 90 years? Mula-mula turun di Hannover dulu everybody was overjoyed even the Germans yang anak cucu depa memang tak merasa snow in such big quantity in town. Sleigh tu sampai habih kat kedai, queing list nak order punya panjang.

Mula-mula turun cantik.....everything is white and pure. After a few days, mula la the ugly side of it appears...yang kat tengah and tepi jalan tu turns into blackish icy muck (Slurpy 7-eleven cola flavour?) especially if not cleared by the Majlis Bandaran which happened in Hannover hari tu. Sebabnya the people yang in-charged of the cleaning is under the purview of the party yang menang election hari tu and this party katanya is golongan pencinta alam and to put salt on the road is an act yang sungguh tak environmentally friendly. So they let the snow melambak kat jalan to a certain extent yg dah agak-agak membahayakan baru la nak clear. Yang kat pavement tu bila dah bercampur dengan dogs' poo and pee turned especially yucky.

Since it has been snowing for sometime and temperature most of the time still below freezing point, the old snow has turned into ice and to walk in this condition is very dangerous. Kinda like going through obstacle course for my daily walk to the cafe behind my office for lunch so much that we got one colleague to drive there although the walk is a short one. Berapa kali dah nak tergolek. The kids' school principal had a bad fall resulting in a punctured lung. Same case with another teacher who is still warded as we speak. As such, the hospitals registered record increase in people admitted with related cases.

Now that we have so much of it, nobody ambik pot pun and kedengaran komen-komen bila la pulak snow ni nak berenti. We've been encouraged to feed the ducks sebab the lakes have been frozen for a long time, takut kebulur itik-itik tu. Kalau depa suruh tangkap bawak balik rumah bela best jugak boleh buat roast duck lagi. Garam nak tabur kat jalan pun dah habis coz they never expected it to be this bad. This is the case of too much of a good thing....bak kata orang Perak...sampai dah muntah monggek....nak buat ais kacang or cendoi takut sakit perut although geram jer nengok salji putih gebu tu all around the area.

As I type this entry, snow is still falling non-stop outside. Looks like niat nak skating on the lake terpaksa tunda lagi coz the snow on top of the frozen lake creates a warm effect underneath and will halt the freezing process and the much needed thickness of ice enough for the lake to be declared safe for skating activities. Last year the lake in Hamburg not only had people skating and walking on it but also kiosks selling coffee and hotdogs! For now, my brandnew skates will dok diam-diam dalam kotak dulu noo....terkenang skating with my A-Level buddies kat Queensway ice skating rink as well as ice skating in Newcastle just before balik Malaysia for good (Elry- I know you're reading this, ingat tak?). Those were the days....