Truth be known, an alternate title for this blogpost today could easily be: winter survival strategy in Belgium. Back in January, I wrote about a grey, wintery, rainy drive to the airport. Today I'd like to share about a grey, wintery, rainy day.....oh, pick any day in the last 3 months! Just a few moments ago, while sitting in the chair at the dentist's office, I was surprised that the light that was shining quite brightly in my face (my eyes were closed because that's what I do best while sitting in the dentist chair, especially as he approaches you with a needle and several whining drills!) was not the overhead light needed by the dentist. It was, in fact, the sun bursting out for a blast of Vitamin D. Now, sitting at home, the sky is all clouded over again, and I'm actually appreciating the bluish tint to the grey as contrasted with the ever present green shrubs that line our street.
Winter is a tough season to experience in Belgium. When my husband decided to give me a citrus press for Christmas, it was an open invitation to bring some sunshine into my grey Belgian world. I'm amazed at God's provision of really good, sweet, juicy oranges during this season (okay,let's be honest: it's God's provision and modern day transport that brings the oranges up from Spain, since Belgium doesn't do oranges!) I love the fact that I have to "work" a bit in order to get my freshly squeezed orange juice. It reminds me of God's good provision, of vitamins and how important they are for our health. I love the smell, the texture, the taste of these important vitamins. And yes, I am a pulp girl!
It is also a tough season for friends that we are befriending in our immigrant world here. To be far from your homeland, limited in your ability to understand language and culture, not sure how to get around in this foreign land....our ladies often need a dose of encouragement when we meet together every week. So, bring on the clementines (cuties, for you who are reading this in the USA). We enjoy our vitamins together, we share the joy of friendship amidst the challenges of not having a common language. We laugh together about language learning, and the difficult pronunciation of Flemish for tongues that are accustomed to speaking French, Arabic, and any of a host of other languages. And when the snow comes, it's time to have a little bit of fun with that as well. Being with someone who is having their first experience of snow is one of life's purest pleasures. It reminds me of my years in Congo and the Central African Republic, when we often would bring African friends into the kitchen to touch ice in the freezer in order to begin to understand how cold snow/ice really can be. Helping someone figure out how to bundle up for winter with layers brings me back to my childhood growing up in Chicago, where snow days were a regular part of the school year (as regular as teachers' strikes in Chicago).
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| These plants are "winter hardy" according to the garden specialists |
