Spring is near?

Happy first day of Spring! It's still cold and grey here, but yesterday was the first day that it actually felt Spring might one day grace us in Delft. While the morning was freezing per usual, I could actually feel the sun's warmth while walking around town in the afternoon and could smell the fresh grass and sweet scent of flowers. Growing up in the Bay Area, I never really realized what a real winter could be like - Since October it has been overcast and grey, with blustery winds, rains, and little flurries of snow. Even though the sun was (sometimes) out, it never felt warm. It was so low in the sky that it always felt like it was dusk and the long shadows cast a grim feeling about town.

Apparently, during real winters smells apparently disappear. Sweet smells - like fresh grass, flowers, and the smell of warm sun on pavement - and were replaced with the smell of damp dirt, fires in the fireplace, and something warm cooking in the kitchen. Also, apparently Spring doesn't really start until April or May - who knew?? In California we've always had gorgeous Februarys where trees start blooming and you can wear spring dresses already. Here, not so much. Turtlenecks and long, warm jackets are still everywhere and I have no faith that they'll disappear anytime soon. Also, mind you, this winter was apparently the warmest winter in Holland in ages. So we were let off easily, and I still couldn't deal. Ha.

I've always thought that I could live somewhere with real seasons, but after experiencing it for one year I've realized that I need sunny weather. I'm a California girl through and through, and overcast skies and cold winds are just not my thing. I feel like I was in a daze all winter - spending a LOT of time in the apartment during the week instead of braving the cold. Granted, I'm not the only one that did that. When I would venture outside, the city was dead. Even on Market Days there would only be a few people out, hurrying from one shop to the other. It made for a lonely, closed off little town. My motivation to do anything was shit - I spent many afternoons reading, working on boring business tasks, and planning sunny trips to some new part of the world. I felt like I was wasting my time here by not spending every moment exploring, but looking back there wasn't much TO do in the winter. After the busy and festive Christmas season in December, January was dull, cold, and grey. It seemed that everyone was recovering from the holidays and we spent a full month in Holland under grey clouds and frigid winds. We read a lot, worked a lot, and cooked in a lot, making our little nest of a home into a safe, warm space. And honestly, as bored and as restless as I got, I know that we really needed that time to relax. Since we got here we have been going nonstop, with tons of travels and busy schedules. January was a time to reflect, reassess what we wanted to do this next year, and recharge ourselves for what is to come. It also helped us feel most grounded here - we hung out with friends more, got into a daily routine, and started to feel like we actually lived here instead of just using it as a home base. And that feeling has been wonderful.

Come February we ventured out a bit more, with some weekend trips around Holland and a weekend in Paris. Sickness is everywhere in the winter in Holland - for some reason people don't like to stay inside and rest when they're sick, but instead continue on with their daily lives, coughing, sneezing, and spreading their cold to everyone nearby. I'm totally for faking feeling better to get shit done, but please, keep the germs to yourself! Train travel, tight grocery stores, and small office spaces are not suited for waning germs. Alas, half of February was spent fighting off back to back head colds. C'est la vie.

And now that the sun has been showing more and more, you can see our little town come alive. Barges in front of canal-front restaurants are back, and yesterday we heard the first boat tour meandering down the water.  There are more people wandering around and hanging out in the main square. People stop and talk with each other on the street instead of hurrying from one place to the next. Delft is coming alive, and I didn't realize how lonely and isolating it had been until I remembered how beautiful and lively it had been. I know spring and summer are going to be gorgeous in the Netherlands and I'm counting down the second until they arrive.