November Days

I always have an ambivalent relationship with the cold season. Some years I hate it, the cold and especially the darkness. The gray, dreary days and endless nights. Other years, however, I don’t mind it at all. 

This year, again, the enjoyment of the restrained, quiet days, the cold, the joy of putting on thick, warm clothes and going for a walk in the cold and then coming back to the warmth of the studio or the apartment prevails. Drinking tea, lighting candles, cooking, eating or working and listening to quiet music. Maybe it’s because of the long, hot summer that lies behind us. While my skin has long since turned paler, my heart has still stored up sunshine that glows from within.

A sunny day in between the gray

After my cold got better right at the beginning of the week, my mood became even more positive. And I was happy about every day of the week. At the beginning of the gray week, I was still a little cautious with my activities. I mainly did office work, some of which was due. Thursday was one of those sunny November days when the low sun bathes everything in warm light, even though the temperatures were fresh. I couldn’t help myself and finally went jogging again. The first lap after my return to Basel. 

Balcony statement

As cold temperatures and snowfall were forecast for the weekend, I tackled my balcony project that had actually been on the agenda for a while. Removing all the summer plants and foliage. I packed up the plants that spend the winter on the balcony or put them in the cellar and planted a few Christmas roses in the pots that had become free. I love these Christmas roses, which bloom all winter with a proud naturalness, as if it were the most normal thing in life. A beautiful symbol, I think, of never letting things get you down.

Back to the gray…not only

The snow didn’t come at the weekend after all – at least not in Basel. Instead, the days were gray and windy again. On Sunday I went out for another run. On a run along the Rhine to St. Louis in France, I noticed the whole spectrum of November days. The harmoniously dreary views and then, in contrast, colorful excerpts as if from another, warmer time, which cheer up the days like the blossoms of the Christmas roses in the middle of winter.

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