You know winter is over when . . .

. . . when you buy sunscreen.

Which is what I did today.  It was so beautiful out that after I finished kitchen duty (took up about an hour and a half of my morning), I decided to go kayaking.  But first, I figured it might be a good idea to get sunscreen from Budni.  So I ran down the street and around the corner, bought some, and then came back and got a paddle and the keys to the boat yard from one of the guys on the canoe team in the next building over.  And I was off!

Good news, by the way--my back is feeling much looser, and I'm not walking like an old person!  Indra got it to crack a little the other night, and I think that helped a lot, because now I'm not having aches up and down my rib cage.  I walked and ran all over the neighborhood today, and I was able to do it without wincing or being stiff.  And I kayaked for probably an hour and a half total, plus taking the kayak out and putting it away.  So that's a praise report!

I did not take this photo, it's from Wikipedia, but it
gives you an idea of the green-ness of the canals!

The kayak excursion was so nice.  I did a loop from the Osterbekkanal (the one in front of our house) past the Stadtpark and then through one of the little canals back to the Osterbekkanal.  It was beautiful and warm, but not too warm.  Everything is so GREEN!  And a kayak is the best way to view all the bird life on the canals.  I saw swans preening, eating, and swimming (they are HUGE, by the way!  I wouldn't want to cross one--it could probably give me some serious nips with its beak!) and a ton of geese and ducks with all their fluffy little babies following them.  Geese go in formation, with one parent in front, all the babies in single file, and then the other parent in the rear.  Ducks just swim and their babies kind of straggle along behind in a pack.  Also saw a couple of other water birds (I tried looking them up, and one I think is a grebe, and the other ones look like a kind we have in California, but I'm not sure) on their nests, which were built out of sticks in the middle of the low-hanging branches at the side of the canal.  In a way, birds are a little bit icky to me (something about their droppings, feathers, and weird scaly feet), but at the same time I get so fascinated watching them.  Each species has its own habits and its own body structure perfectly suited to its environment, and it's really amazing to be close to them and see them go about their activities.  Water birds are especially neat to observe because they're not as skittish as other birds and you can get really close to them.  I wish I'd had a camera, but I don't like the idea of taking my camera with me in a kayak (for obvious reasons).

Tonight Indra and I showed Marni how to make Marklößchensuppe, the German marrow dumpling soup.  It was fun and delicious!  We also took a 15-minute stroll after dinner because it was still so nice out.  The days here are so long already!  I wouldn't have thought the latitude difference would be so dramatic, but I noticed right after Daylight Savings started.  It was like we made an immediate jump from winter to summer.  Already the light starts to come at 5:30 am and it doesn't get fully dark until after 9 pm.  The days are so crazy long . . . I'm actually getting confused on the time of day because it stays light so late!  It's like the "fall back" effect in reverse!  But it's awesome.

Working on booking a trip to Prague the second week of May.  Marni decided to come with me!  I have to say I'm really glad.  I honestly am just a teeny bit nervous about traveling alone again . . . though hopefully I will stay healthy on my trips from now on!