**SPOILER ALERT** We didn’t get hit by the blizzard, which also didn’t turn out to be the blizzard of the century. I, for one, mostly because I don’t know what I’m talking about, am disappointed. But most people here are relieved.

All last week the entire northern half of the country was glued to the weather forecasts which had a ginormous and very humid warm front colliding with an equally ginormous Arctic cold front roundabouts here where we live. But as the days wore on, it became clear that a vicious east wind would spring up across the Baltic, shoving the cold front further south. Then what struck was not the blizzard of the century but a snowstorm bad enough to block a lot of roads and highways (cue news footage of farmers’ tractors dragging ambulances over deeply buried country roads) and shut down most train lines and ferries in the northern half of the country. The weather presenters had a field day with their reporting, crowing “FLOCKDOWN!” about this situation where you’re snowed in during a pandemic lockdown.

But we haven’t had a single flock here (yet), just this damned wind, gusting up to force 11 when it is already below freezing outside. I literally got chilblains just sitting inside listening to it yesterday. The chickens, who can’t decide what’s worse, going outside or spending the entire day in the coop, are very close to losing the will to live. But they’re going to have to hang in there for at least a week of really cold, horrible weather.

Anyway, today we heard through the village’s jungle drums that we ought to head out to the shore of the lake because it’s a bit of a winter wonderland. So we did.