Winter Quiet in the Neighbourhood

As a researcher of space and place it is interesting to note some of the differences around life in the neighbourhood, when something like seasonal weather changes take place. I was finally getting use to all the daily screaming and racket produced by the children on the playground located next to my building (I know, I sound like the grinch), but since the heavy snow fall, I’ve heard hardly anything at all. As a child growing up in Canada and as someone who is use to the quiet that winter snow can bring, I am a bit surprised to find the same kind of quiet here where I was sure that such a large and uncharacteristic snowfall, coupled with the fact that today is the first day of winter break, would bring children out in droves! Yet, there were hardly any children to see. In fact, the only ones that I did see were being pulled around by their parents on sleighs (there are no hills in our area to speak of but this also looked quite fun). This is not to say that playing in the snow doesn't exist. Numerous snow-people, snow families, and at times just big snow balls have popped up over night along our sidewalks so it seems as though the engineering spirit still abounds.

Another notable of the seasonal changes are, as mentioned in an earlier blog, the Opzommer trees that are now fully adorned with ornaments (some made out of cardboard and foil while others are replete with thin board cut-outs of the Opzommer symbol that I assume were provided by the same bunch). An interesting detail to these Opzommer projects is that most of these trees have lights in them and that one house nearest the tree must take the responsibility (and the charge?) for lighting it each night. I'd be interested to learn who does this and why? At the very corner of my street, the doctor's office is paying for the lights. This tree however does not appear to be for the residents of my street but for the lane that we come off of.

Finally, and with Luke's insight, it has now become apparent to me that this level of snow has be somewhat debilitating for travelers in Rotterdam. While there are less bikes on the roads, there are still those brave enough to cycle. Even this is tough as the snow creates slippery roads and decreases the speed of one’s trip. Most of cars here are snowed into place and many get stuck on the smallest of inclines due to their rear wheel drive systems or lack of snow tires. Luke and I helped push one car out of it spot today and felt sorry for many others. As I write, Pdot is currently stuck in Utrecht where he went on Saturday because the trains were and are sporadically running (the NS website asks that passengers try not to take the train for today) and Luke and I check on the status of planes at the Schiphol airport every so often since we leave for England in just a couple days. Even with all the setbacks, Luke and I watched cyclists, pedestrians, drivers and trams narrowly avoid one another as they traversed an intersection bursting with snow and activity today while sitting in the Nika Coffee Corner.

So in reflection, I think it's a bit of both. My neighbourhood seems to be full of business and activity in certain commercial areas and somewhat devoid of it in the more residential areas. It's my impression that the people of the neighbourhood are spending more time getting together at private parties and gathering with their families. As it stands, most of my neighbourhood group events are scheduled to start up again in January and even those events planned by the city appear to be waiting until at least New Years to begin anew. So from this, I get the feeling that Rotterdam has only slowed and not stopped. Either way, it makes for a nice bit of winter quiet.