Sunrise is currently around 9:45 am and sunset comes before 5 pm. By the winter solstice, the length of daylight will be 7 hours and 14 seconds. The weather has generally been gray and the rare patch of blue sky is a cause for celebration. Luckily, snow finally came to Moscow, and that along with preparations for Christmas are really the saving graces of winter in Russia.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with some good friends. We had it all - Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet potato biscuits, corn pudding, creamed spinach, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, you name it. We even made a nice pate out of the turkey liver. A lot of holidays, like the 4th of July, only remind us that we're away from home. It's hard to recreate 4th of July festivities here without the fireworks. But having a good old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinner actually makes us feel less like we're far away, even though we're not celebrating with the people we normally do.
Even though Thanksgiving was early this year, we stuck to our tradition of decorating for Christmas the weekend after. This year Aiden was old enough to help - or hinder, depending on his mood. Mostly he helped and we got the job done. He also was pretty quick to learn that he's not allowed to take ornaments off the tree, although sometimes, understandably, temptation gets the better of him.
The following week, just before the end of November, we got our first snowfall of the season. It snowed for over two days and I think we got close to a foot before it was all said and done. Now, I wouldn't have though that a foot over two days would be a big deal for a place like this, but according to local officials, it's the biggest November snow they've had in 50 years. That could be true, or it could be an excuse for an abysmal job of clearing the roads and sidewalks. Stephanie literally couldn't leave the apartment for three days because she couldn't get the stroller over the drifts of snow. I had a number of close calls going to in from work. Between climbing over the piles of slush that pile up at the curbs, the sidewalks get a good slick film of ice on them that doesn't really melt because the temperature doesn't get above freezing anymore. But already I'm getting better at using my slip'n slide technique on the more difficult surfaces.
People here told us that they're usually very efficient about snow removal, so maybe we'll give them the benefit of the doubt that the storm was unexpected and hope for better results in the future. Another problematic aspect of snow is the slush splash. If anything, drivers in Moscow speed up when the roads are icy, sending a disgusting spray of black slush on either side. They are as heedless as ever of pedestrians and it becomes very tricky to get close enough to the road to cross when there is a break in traffic without being so close that you get sprayed with black muck. That said, in general the snow really helps to alleviate the otherwise gray surroundings of winter and gave a boost to the feeling that the Christmas season as arrived.
With Christmas preparations comes Christmas cookies, and Stephanie and I have had to learn to pace ourselves now that we can't be in the kitchen all day.
This year it took me over a week to finish this year's gingerbread house, which was based on St. Basil's cathedral in Red Square...
Another nice thing about winter is that the lights around town come on much earlier. In summer, it got dark so late that we never saw them, but now they're on when I come home from work. Later in the month, we're planning to go around town to see more of them since we can do it well before Aiden's bedtime.
The first snow was a bit too stormy to take Aiden out, but this weekend we had another good snow that was nice and gentle. So we got Aiden all bundled up and went out to play. He was hesitant at first, but once he got the hang of it, he had a great time running around in the snow.
That night, the singing group I joined had a concert for friends and family. I was really pleased that Stephanie and Aiden came, although Aiden was a bit restless and Stephanie ended missing the last few songs. Still, we had a good time and there was lots of good food afterwards. I had hoped to post a video from the concert, but the sound didn't come out well at all (Stephanie assures me we didn't sound like banshees at the actually concert).
On the way there, we were almost run over by a snow plow on the pedestrian walk of the bridge and then sprayed with slush by the rotating brushes on the back since the driver couldn't bother to take a break while we passed. On the way back, we were pelted with salt when the salt sprayer went by without slowing. Ah, winter in Moscow!
Today, we continued our cookie baking and then took Aiden to an event at the Embassy featuring Santa Claus. Aiden, being in the phase of life where is is justifiably terrified of strangers did not like sitting on Santa's lap at all. But I think every kid has to have at least one picture of themselves crying on Santa's lap. So we can check that box off.
Work is extremely busy as locals are rushing to get visas for New Year vacations - here, most people take just about the entire month of January off to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas and New Year. I just look forward to the weekends and the break we get at the beginning of January!
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