crunchy underfoot

Mrs. Winter threw a party last night.

Sprites of mist and cloud  mingled with soft rain as they danced a slow, graceful spiral over the  city with its shimmering river.

Trees coated in brown black silhouette reached out towards the fog-wrapped sky, shivering in anticipation, tendrils outstretched in welcome.

Wind whirled and swirled while glittering icy diamonds sparkled at its feet.

Gray light peeped through my  frozen window pane flashing an invitation in hushed tones.

Dawn came late and we  almost missed the evening’s last dance.

Clad in goose feather once-wings with sunshine gold newtons wrapped around  my feet, I slipped, slid, sloshed through sleek ice and powdery snow, crunching out a swift and light tempo underfoot.

Mrs. Winter, drunk from the night’s revelry and release,  left her furry white coat on the once green tufted grass. Mr. Sun found it a few hours later.

Like all great parties, this one too, lasted ’til morning…

old haunt, new stomping ground

Once in a while, I do need to work…

Grey-white, swirling mist embraced me in welcome as I walked towards the banks of the river Main. It is almost seven in the morning. 19 odd hours or so after our plane had taken off from warm Manila

Out across the mist-covered river, small tendrils of light reach out over the horizon.

Frankfurt Am Main–the first and last stop of most of my Europe trips! While Frankfurt doesn’t exactly inspire visions of grand playgrounds and rip-roaring night life, it does have its charms. You just have to know where to look…and to be prepared to look very hard! For the last 8 years I’ve spent a minimum of at least 25 days a year in this city. Sometimes, it’s for a bit of play. But mostly it’s for work. Almost always for work.

Because Cupid, my boy-wonder with wings, is always very busy this time of year, I had little choice but to take a lousy plane.  So off I went across an entire continent and over a few countries until I found myself in Rhineland’s gateway–the land of overflowing Hefe beer and, perhaps, even of honey (of the romantic and chocolate toting variety, I hope!) It is Valentine’s month after all where all forms of silly notions are allowed to roam free.

Home, for the last few days, can be found within a wonderful suite of apartments fronting the river. It’s a most darling of a space to twist and twirl in your cocoon. Not a bad area to hang around in. And definitely fronting a very good place to go running in…It would be perfect, really, except for the freezing temperatures part. But then again, this world would be a terribly boring place indeed if everything was perfect.

Asterix, my Belgian friend, says I shouldn’t complain. It’s already so much warmer this week! At least I get some blue skies (not that I really see it) and sunshine (not that I feel it) and it only snows a bit at night. So, to make him happy, I’ve stopped complaining. Now I just mutter and mumble under my misty breath whenever I feel the cold making its way to my bones. I spend the whole day inside a Skyscraper anyway. Frankfurt is one of the few cities in Europe that actually has a smattering of them.

While making a quick run to lunch at the shopping centre the other day, I came upon this scene.

Here is one  interesting building. It’s not that tall but it was definitely envisioned with boldness and daring. A pretty cool architectural detail. I can’t wait for it to get finished so I can explore it inside out the next time I come…

And so, we are off to the new stomping ground.

The first time I tried running out by the river. I felt my face stinging from the biting cold. I caught myself wondering if very soon I would have to add a frozen nose to my list of running injuries.

For the most part, running here has been interesting. Different and yet fun. There are tons of new things to see. And although, I’ve seen most of them before, now I’m looking at them with new eyes. One’s experience of a city really does change with the manner of transport we choose to take when we are in it. Whenever I can, I stop to take some pictures. But I really don’t get to do that as often as I want. When I stop, I freeze. The trick, I was quick to learn, was simply to keep moving.

Pity I don’t have as much time to run as I want to. Sunrise in this part of the world is not until after seven in the morning. I need to be at work by 8am. Sunset comes before 6pm. I get off work at six. So mostly it’s been running in the dark, in the cold, in the rain, in the light grayish mist before the sun pushes itself off in fierce white light over the horizon and across the gray-blue sky. And although I do mutter and mumble, I really have no real reason to complain.

I wish I have more time for play.

But, once in a while, I do need to work…