Last of the Snow?

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-Each morning around 5 or 5:30 I have been looking out the bedroom window at this patch of snow. I figured when it disappeared the snow would be gone for the winter. Last Friday I was pretty sure it was about gone, Saturday I was sure and then it snowed like wild again. But today it was really apparent it was on-its-way-out. So I got Bill up and had him take a picture of this 'my pile' and of the other 'maybe it's my pile of snow'. We just got back from downtown and yes 'my pile' of snow is GONE. The other one is smaller but still there. I hope it is not waiting for another snow to build it back up again. Last year I almost cried when the last of the snow melted. I had enjoyed it so very much. It was white and lovely all day long and I took so many good walks in the woods on the snow. The snow this year wasn't quite so friendly. It turned to ice and bothered everyone and almost ruined all walks in the woods as you have read previously on this blog. So, this year I am ok with it going. When I went out of the library to the guest lounge for tea/coffee break this morning the sun was shining and I felt a thrill of joy to know spring is on the way. I watched other people standing with their faces turned up to the sun smiling and enjoying it. We have had a long, cold, icy winter and today was the first day that I felt it was almost over. At chapel they reminded us we turn our clocks back this weekend. That is another sign isn't it? Now we will have sun in the evening for hours and hours after work is over. That will be so nice.

We had an interesting day today with no water on campus from 8 a.m. until sometime in the afternoon. The city was working on the water main right outside our campus. The school provided a big tank of fresh clean water but we had been warned ahead and had flushing water in the bathtub and drinking and tooth brush water in our pots and pans. Now we will have to use up all that extra water for a day or two for cooking, etc. Don't want to waste it. We were impressed that the water actually came back on this evening. We can remember the problems in China when water or electricity had to be repaired. The Czech Republic seems much more efficient along these lines.

I had a very poignant time this morning. In fact I sat and cried. One of the master's treatises that I was cataloging from the oversized book shelf said 'first draft of a treatise for the Master's Degree' Below it someone had written 'never finished because of a fatal accident'. I paged through this student's unfinished work. Someone had lovingly gathered pages of typed work with instructor's and proofreader's corrections and suggestions. There were sheets of graph paper with a few words on them and many pages of handwritten notes and ideas. Such a picture of the labor going on in this young man's head. Such a pity he never lived to finish his work and go on to a life of service. It was really a sad half hour or so for me. But then I started to think that perhaps all master's works should be so published-not as polished pieces of work but as works in progress so all could see the struggle that is required to finish a Master's or a PhD Thesis. How encouraging it would be to other students to see the work-in-progress of their professors, or those whose texts they have to read for classes, etc. I think I will never forget this Luigi's unfinished manuscript. All our lives as we live them are unfinished treatises aren't they? Works in progress-never finished and polished, open and available for all to see as we struggle to become who God wants us to be. Yes, I am glad I was the one to catalog this book and cry those tears and think these thoughts I have thought today.

After a day of books and computers, we went again to the Salvation Army to help serve in the soup kitchen. However we found new health rules prevented us serving in the kitchen. We have offered to have our medical records sent here so they can see we are healthy. Since we volunteer in a free medical clinic we have to have TB tests two times a year and have regular inoculations. We are up to date on flu shots, Hepatitis A and B, DPT, thypoid fever, etc. I doubt if they could find two healthier kitchen workers. But I am glad they have high standards for their servers. Instead of serving food we got to do something I have heard of others doing. We were given a stack of old sheets and table cloths that had been washed within an inch of their lives to snowy brightness. Instead of making bandages (which is what I had heard of) we were asked to cut them into hand towel sizes for people to dry after showers. We worked like little beavers until they came to tell us if we did any more there would be no work for other volunteers later in the week. We had a small mountain of towels ready. The room where we were working had second hand clothing for women who are in need. The quality of the clothing was amazing. Much was either new or almost never worn. There were shoes and coats and dresses and jeans and sweaters and slacks, under garments, just all one could need. Czech people seem to be very generous to those who are homeless. We are so impressed with the care the Salvation Army is giving folks here.

After working, since we had no idea if water was on here or not, we went to eat in a Chinese restaurant. It was one of those small sort of mom and pop places where the food is GOOD. It was our first ever Chinese meal in the Czech Republic. I ordered a egg and tomato soup which I love and Bill thinks is sort of yucky and a dofu with mushrooms, green veg and bamboo shoot meal. Bill ordered rice noodles with veg. I started to think about it and decided they MIGHT by some horror deep fat fry my dofu. I went over and tried to find out. One waitress who had taken care of us spoke English but couldn't figure out what I was talking about, the other was Chinese and couldn't speak English, the third was Chinese and could speak English but couldn't seem to quite understand what I was talking about. Well, I THOUGHT she was Chinese but I wasn't sure since most Asians here are Vietnamese. On the off chance that I might hit gold. I asked her in Chinese if she spoke Chinese. She said yes she did. Then I was home free. I asked if the dofu was boiled or fried. She said it was not boiled. I asked if it could be boiled and she said no. So I told her then if it can't be boiled I don't want it. She said do you want soup. I told her I already ordered soup. But...to my surprise when the food arrived my good soup was there and my dofu dish with the dofu nicely boiled. I suppose if my answer was 'boil it or cancel the order' then it was time to boil the dofu. When we were ready for the check, the caucasian waitress had apparently decided it was better to let the other woman deal with this weird Chinese speaking customer since we got along better in Chinese than she and I had in English. I asked where she was from and she was from FuJian. I told her we used to live in Xi'an. It was a big surprise to me that my brain remembered any Chinese. I often think I have totally forgotten all I learned. Well, I have forgotten 99% of it I think but on this occasion when I had eaten fried foods two days ago and my tummy was still sad about it, urgency brought just the right vocabulary back to me. I felt happy!

So, enjoy what might be your last view of snow in the Czech Republic.

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Photos

Last of the Winter "maybe my pile"
Aren't the cobblestones beautiful?