What I love these days...

... coming home from the cold and warming up with a hot cup of excellent black tea, sweetened with amaretto-infused rock sugar and topped off with some milk.
... waking up to a muffled, somewhat somber world.

... doing handicrafts in the evening, assisting the creative process with the occasional cup of mulled wine.
... receiving trashy gifts in an white-elephant gift exchange.
... laughing till I can't move anymore when witnessing the trash OTHER people got to take home. ;-)
... eating christmas cookies and sugar roasted almonds.
... ice skating in the middle of Jena.

... drinking a mulled wine before, after and in between ice skating (ok, I bluffed... there was no mulled wine in the middle of ice skating). ;-)
... holding an advent-session with my students
... lighting the Advent wreath.

... spending comfy evenings with friends.
... eating hearty food and enjoying time just as it is.
... throwing snow balls.
... lighting an incense smokerman and enjoying the fragrant fumes.

... taking snow pictures.
... listening to the snow crunching underneath my feet (did you know that this is not due to traction, but because the air in the powdery snow is forcefully compressed?)
... watching snow fall and fall and fall.
... taking a pensive look at the powdered mountains all around Jena.


What I do not love these days...
... running around from Xmas-event to Xmas-event.
... numb legs, cheeks and noses due to the harsh cold.
... frozen hair.
... the craze for gifts AT THIS VERY MOMENT. And the ruthlessness that some people exhibit then.

... snow flakes in my eyes.
... drippy noses.
... wet shoes inside the flat.
... frost on the INSIDE of my window which I left open overnight.
... ice cold hands that take 15 minutes to defrost after entering the house.
... cold walls that emanate the icy temperatures from the outside.
... depleted wine and tea stocks.
... being hit by an icy snow ball.
... slithering around on icy roads and slippery cobblestone streets (of which there are MANY around).
... cracked lips just half a minute after leaving the warmth of home.

And what is it that touches you these days?

BTW, a blessed 4th Advent to y'all!

Hanna