Wow. I knew I'd neglected this once-beloved blog of mine, but I had no idea it had got this bad. It didn't completely disappear from my memory - every few weeks or so, I'd see, hear or experience something relatively random and think "man, that would make a great blog post", but that's where it finished: ideas were swallowed up by the all-consuming depressing darkness of the most ridiculously hermit-creating winter I've ever experienced. Some of the best of it fortunately got documented in my journal, which is going to be the source of the next few posts.
Sitting here perfectly comfortable now in just a singlet and jeans, the April afternoon sunshine streaming in through my window, is in itself the best possible way to illustrate the contrast between the circumstances of then and the circumstances of now. Four months. Four whole months since December 24th. Back then, it was snowing on and off outside, sunset was at about 3.40pm and the average daily top temperature was rarely above -10°C.
So here comes the update.
The day after the last entry was a very chilled German expat Christmas, then quite possibly the best Boxing Day ever (Glühwein, chocolate and good mates - what more could you want?). New Years - this one definitely made it into my top five: again, good mates, good food, great fireworks in Berlin, and added bonus, a whole lot of snow!
That set the trend for January - well, the snow at least. Snow and more snow, and then just a little bit more snow. Oh, and beyond freezing temperatures. And a blizzard or two. The coldest winter in Europe for decades. Explorative photography adventures in the snow, walking and playing soccer on frozen canals in Berlin, the official christening of my new gumboots (with three layers of socks), coming home at 2am to see a thick layer of ice on the _inside_ of my windows... And then there's Australia Day - which has earned its very own blog post (a work in progress).
February - well, to be perfectly frank, February is best forgotten. Cold, depressing, stressful beyond belief, and not short enough. March - the first teasing signs of spring. One day it's 15deg and the sun is shining, the next day there are snowflakes falling gently from the heavens and everyone's digging through their wardrobes for the winter woollies again.
Honestly the best part of March was the 25th. The flight south to a part of Europe that had actually somehow defrosted enough to be considered to be enjoying spring weather, for ten blissful days in a living breathing history classroom. Blog posts to come from my journal notes in Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo - give me a few weeks to get it together.
The point? Australis is back. With a vengeance, a whole lot of new post ideas, and a certainty that summer 2010 will be the best ever. There are music festivals, cultural festivals, food and beer festivals all over Berlin in the next few months. If that's not enough, it's a World Cup year - summer and football. Winning combination.
The best part? Hours and hours of sunshine-filled afternoons in the next five months to savour with great mates. Oh yeah. Bring it on.
