Let it snow, let it snow...

It's cold here in Berlin ( -8° C/ 18°F) and it's snowing, we have almost 4 inches now. Which is pretty crazy for it being only early December. I remember when I was  growing up, more often than not the first snow only came in January. This really has been a wild year weatherwise. It started with weeks of freezing cold and no sun. Seriously, 17 days without sun, that's rough. An incredibly wet and cool spring followed by a baking hot summer with temperatures well into the 100s. Thankfully, I got to spend that part of summer in Mississppi where it was cooler. Yep, that's right Mississppi in early summer was cooler than Berlin. And now we have one of the coldest starts into December ever.  It does not bode well for the rest of the winter. 

Whether this is a sign of climate change I don't know, I'm not a climate scientist. But I tell you, it sure feels strange. I for one believe that climate change is a reality and that the extreme weather we have been experiencing in the last years is a symptom (and yes I know weather is not climate). So on the (very plausible) chance that Climate Change is happening, I believe that it is time for all of us to face our responsibility and look at what we can do, to make things better. 

I am not saying we should turn off the heating and freeze, or anything radical like that. I believe it's the little things we can change and when thousands of people change their habits a step at a time it can have a huge impact. Maybe you could get around to put all your electronic gadgets on power strips that you can turn off, so you won't waste all that energy in stand-by, or you can turn down that thermostat a couple of degrees or you can use public transport instead of a car. I'm also a huge fan of buying local and reducing by reusing... there are a million little things you can do, and you don't have to do them all at once. Remember: a step at a time...

So, with all that snow,  here's what I wish was in my Advent Calendar!