The skepticism I had expressed the day before was proven wrong yesterday when it snowed so heavily that the whole city of Chemnitz was covered in a thick layer of powdery snow. And it seemed like it would never stop snowing!
I’ve already shown you how fantastically beautiful Chemnitz is. And with a snow-white topping, it all looks even more romantic.
But because those readers who have never had the joy of a Eastern European winter can’t imagine how romantic this season looks between socialist-era prefabricated apartment blocks, I limited myself to a short walk around my neighborhood. (Besides, I didn’t feel like trudging through the cold for hours.)
In a neighborhood like this, you get this cozy Siberia feeling. With a desire for hearty food, high-proof dessert and novels as thick as a brick and as dramatic as the Russian Civil War.
Sadly, though, I was right with my initial skepticism. Today, most of the snow has melted and the city is suffering from flooding.
Links:
The Happy Hermit 
Great post Andreas!! Pics particularly.So a wish to you for a very Merry Christmas from Canada where in Halifax Nova Scotia, right now we do not have any snow sadly.So strange because years ago when I was a little boy in Newfoundland where I grew up, we always had tons of it! 5-6 ft snow banks and early morning walks like the lovely powder in your beautiful photographs! Thx for your post and best to you and your family for a Joyeux Noel and a Very Happy New Year as well.
Sincerely. G Franklyn Hiscock .
Thank you very much!
Today, almost all of yesterday’s snow has melted already. We are obviously both old enough to remember the change in the climate even over our lifetime.
Yes it is so true!@73 years of age and growing still. LOL>Best. Franklyn.
Thank you, my friend, for a much-needed shot of winter comfort. Sitting here in weather more like late spring than Christmas Eve, with only one house for blocks with lights and decorations displayed, it feels distinctly non-cheery. This old Chicagoan needed a good dose of snow – even if only vicariously. Much obliged!
All the best of this season to you and yours.
I am glad I could be of service, for once.
If I had proper shoes, I would go into the mountains to bring you more snow (photos).
Frohe Weinachten wieder, Andreas! LOVE the beautiful pics!
Here’s how it looks in sunny Yuma, Arizona, USA. https://themjkxn.substack.com/p/a-true-horror-story
What a contrast!
Not only the weather, but also you having three ladies with you, and me having none. :/
Funnily enough, though, I was wearing a similar hat on my winter walk.
And I wasn’t even aware of you being an attorney as well! What type of law do you practice?
Andreas, your comments section doesn’t have a “Reply” for your “Reply” to my comment above so I will “Reply” to my own comment and trust that it all sorts itself out.
To answer your question, I was a state prosecuting attorney for about 23 and a half years before I retired at age 57. I had prosecuted drug cases and major felonies for ten years, got burned out on deciding every day how much imprisonment would be a just consequence for the crime or crimes committed by the person in the case on my desk or would probation be appropriate. So, I asked to be reassigned to the juvenile court where the emphasis is on rehabilitation. I did that for another thirteen years and retired as a supervising attorney after I felt that I’d “run out of gas” even there.
I pretty much failed at retirement and so took a job as an adult defense attorney. After sixteen months, I was offered the opportunity to resign, a professional way to kick one’s butt to the curb. For the last seven years, I’ve represented our state’s child welfare agency back in the juvenile court where I’ve had a front row seat to the unraveling of society.
When I was a prosecutor, I had all the law, all the facts, all the resources, and all the power. I did try to use that power with compassion, fairness, and justice. When I was an adult defense attorney, I had nothing but my wits, the Grace of God, and some poor schlep of a client that the state was coming down on like a ton of bricks. But that was all easy compared to the job I now do.
Criminal law is like playing two-dimensional chess. What I do now in the juvenile court with as many as four, five or even six attorneys in any one case is like trying to play three-dimensional chess . . . on top of a speeding locomotive . . . with stuff flying at you all the time! It’s the hardest job that I’ve ever had, but most of the time, it’s also the most rewarding job that I’ve ever done.
Three years ago, I had an offer to become a Unites States Attorney prosecuting drug case and illegal immigration. It would have been easier, better compensated, and more prestigious, but I turned it down to do what I’m doing now trying to protect children and help families whose children need the state’s protection.
This is likely my last legal rodeo before Glory. I’ll ride this bull as long as I can.
Merry Christmas again, Andreas! And may God bless us all with a very Happy New Year!
https://themjkxn.substack.com/p/death-smiles
I used to have the option of infinite replies to replies, but then people always commented totally randomly and it so bothered the OCD part of my personality that I had to disable it again. :-)
Wow, that’s quite a biography!
I never did much criminal work, but I had “run out of gas” after only 7 years in mostly international family law. I liked it, it was interesting, but after a while it was always the same legal problems.
So I thought: “If I know that I won’t be able to continue this job for 30 years, why should I continue it for even one year?”
That’s when I started moving around the world, which I could finance by doing legal translations. Much less exciting, much less money, no prestige, but I could work from where I wanted – and in my pyjamas.
Unfortunately, this work has pretty much dried up, because computerized translations have become so good that most people are happy with the 95% accuracy, especially as they get it instantly and for free.
That’s why I had to return to private practice this year, but I am taking it very slowly. No staff, no advertising, just a few clients per month. Luckily, I still know how to keep my expenses low from the globetrotting days. ;-)
The work you are doing now sounds extremely demanding, but at the same time very important and interesting!
The thing which I probably like most about the practice of law is that it gives us an insight into the lives of people around us, with whom we would otherwise never meet. I really appreciate this sociological aspect of the law.
I hope you will still be doing this long enough for me to visit you in Arizona and learn about some of your cases!
(Going to court is a regular activity on my trips, and probably a reason why I usually travel alone. :-) Although in Brazil, a lawyer even took me to court with her for our first date.)
Well, I hope your Christmas was nice, Andreas.
You are most welcome to visit us anytime in sunny Yuma, Arizona, USA.
Here’s a general description of my cases which have caused me at long last to seek therapeutic help for my work-related vicarious trauma. https://open.substack.com/pub/themjkxn/p/last-one-for-a-while?r=1qts0e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Lieber Andreas, du weißt die Gunst der Stunde zu nutzen. Die Bilder sind großartig. Du kreierst gerade ein neues Genre: „Found Places“ statt „Lost Places „ Bin gespannt auf mehr.😀 Ein frohes Fest wünsche ich dir.
Da merkt man den Profi!
Denn natürlich war der Spaziergang nicht kurz, weil ich keine Lust mehr hatte, sondern weil nur ganz kurz das perfekte Licht herrscht. (Bei den meisten Fotos war es schon zu spät, aber es gab halt nur diesen einen Tag richtig viel Schnee.)
Wunderbar war das in Vilnius. Dort ging die Sonne so langsam unter und es war so lange Dämmerung, dass man an einem Abend an drei ganz verschiedenen Orten, zwischen denen man mit dem Bus fuhr, im perfekten Licht Fotos machen konnte.
Dieses Licht dauerte locker eine Stunde an: https://andreas-moser.blog/2012/07/14/die-kathedrale-von-vilnius-in-der-abenddammerung/
I’m not sure everyone likes a white christmas with the price of heating being what it is. But it does look picturesque
The good thing about those blocks of flats:
If you live in the middle, you hardly need to heat, because you are benefitting from all the neighbors heating like crazy. :-)
I am not so much the heating person myself, I rather wear two pairs of socks at home.
Or I go to the library all day, where it’s cozy and warm.
Thank you for the pictures! I love looking at pictures of snow, or occasionally going to visit snow in the local mountains, but very much prefer not to live in snow😂
Happy holidays Andreas!
But it’s sooo cozy and calming and romantic! ❄️
The flats look lovely with the festive lights in the windows here and there. I have a lot of love for this era of architecture, more so in the snow. Hearty food and a good book sounds perfect, preferably enjoyed by an old fashioned tiled stove. With a dog ( cat for you, if I remember rightly you aren’t so much a dog lover?)
I don’t have the stove or the cat, sadly, although I will be cat-sitting two lovely cats from February again.
Today, I discovered a few more gems of 1950s/60s architecture, but I didn’t have a camera with me.
People probably think I am weird, because I just stand there and marvel at blocks of concrete.
The festive lights in the windows look really nice. I actually wish people would keep them throughout the year.
I never quite understand why people don’t do that. I mean, either you like lights or you don’t. If you do, why limit them to one month of the year?
Oh, as to the book, I finished “Bleak House” on that day, and they did have tiled stoves and open fireplaces there.