Where have the ducks gone?

They haven`t been to our place for a long while, where are you, duckies?

Oh well, the winter wasn`t too cold so far, we can still find enough food here on the canal. See, enough hiding places, can you still see us now?

No, indeed! Clever ducks!

I only wanted to make sure all was well with you.

So Paco and I walk on to the beach. Let`s see what it looks like today.

Ah yes, better. The sand is back.

In the distance I see the crane (not the cranes, they are flying above my head). People are getting their hotels ready for the summer tourists, but no hurry.

Most of them wait till Easter when Spring is in the air.

They don`t know how beautiful the sea is when it is cold and crisp and the air is stinging, and the sea-gulls fly over your head.

My camer wasn`t quick enough to catch the ten white swans that crossed the sky above me. Did you ever the sound their large wings are making. You cannot help but look up and smile.

Oh, but I do love the sea-gulls, too. They saw me get my camera out of my bag and hoped I had something to eat for them, like the tourists who feed them. But I know there are enough little fish swimming near the shore. You are not starving, come on, show me how you can dive!

Does it sound as if I am talking to the birds? I think I am. And not only the birds. When I pass a barking dog behind a fence, I usually make friends with him, too. It`s easy, you know.

Tell him what a great watchdog he is, and how pretty, and that his folks can be proud of him! Try it, you`ll see him smiling, I swear!

This is one of the beautiful hotels I pass as we walk down the promenade. It is a very long promenade, if I walk on and on, I`ll cross the Polish border in about an hour. And along the way, I will see an incredible number of these hundred-year-old, wonderfully restored houses.

If you turn your back to see what you would find if you look out from the balcony, well, this is it.

Dunes and pines, sometimes a bench to rest, and in only ten meters or so the beach begins. No skyscraper hotels, no crowds, even in summer, just a ten-thousand year-old landscape. The Baltic Sea was formed after the last glacial.

Some people say the next one is due every ten thousand years.

That is: NOW.

I hope not today.

Although, can you see how the trickling water is starting to freeze?

We have only -3°C, but in Moscow they have already -25°.

And SNOW.

I think we should walk home now, my feet are getting cold, Paco`s, too.

In our warm cosy home we can have a cup of hot chocolate. And maybe I will knit some more. Lori had sent me a pattern, for my little 3 months-old grandson. This is what I made of it. The emblem I sewed on is of his daddy`s favourite football club (Bremen). That`s how you breed fans, haha.

Well my dears, it`s been nice having you along. I hope that we`ll not get snowed in too soon, but the weather report is warning us.

If you don`t hear from me....