How 2017 Began

For millions of people, I guess 2017 began worse than I can imagine. There was the shooting at the night club in Istanbul, fatal car accidents induced by either drunk driving or heavy fog and icy roads and undoubtedly unrelented atrocities going on in many parts of the world.

In contrast, my year was off to a good start - just look at the view from my kitchen window on January 1st. This is what it was like at just before 12:00:

And here is (almost) the same view less than an hour later:

By then, we had finished a late, lazy breakfast and were ready to go for a walk. I did not have my camera with me, but O.K. was kind enough not only to take the following pictures but also to allow me to show them here.

It was cold, especially when we reached a windy corner. But the sun, while it was out, was beautiful, and the contrast between the fog and the sun made it all the more interesting.

Later on, we drove the roughly 1 1/2 hours to O.K.'s home, where we were invited with his family for an excellent meal and clinking glasses with them. (New Year's Eve had been with my family, at my sister's, for a fun-filled party with music, food and drink - and listening to invisible fire works at midnight, because of the dense fog.)

I stayed at O.K.'s until last night. We went for more walks during the two days I was there, and I am going to show you pictures straight from Winter Wonderland in my next posts.

Hopefully, you are all well, and 2017 began at a pleasant pace for you.