Brrrrrr! But good news.

 It has been very cold here for the past couple of weeks.  Most of the week just ending it did not get above freezing, which is unusual here.  On the other hand, we have a lovely glassed-in porch and any sun warms it right up so that it feels like being outside on a warm spring day.  Just lovely!  Right now it is 37 degrees outside, and a comfortable high-70s on the porch.  We have some flowers on our kitchen table that get the sun and live in the temperature-controlled house.  They think it is spring.

Flowers on the kitchen table.

The orchids are a surprise to us.  They were in the apartment by the river when we first came to Maribor and they were in full, glorious bloom.  Of course, the blooms eventually fell off and the plant became unremarkable.  We have NEVER had orchids bloom a second time, although we have tried many times.  But we kept these on a window sill and nursed them along.  Liz finally put them in the spare bedroom, the room I use for reading, watching my computer, and working at my desk.  I made sure to open the blinds each day, but they only got a few hours of sun each afternoon.

To our surprise, we finally noticed a bloom stem growing up, and we started paying attention to them again.  The purple ones bloomed first and now the white ones are blooming, too.

Friday, we visited the grocery store and Liz picked up the little, yellow jonquils.  They were just poking up their heads at that time, but they've exploded into bloom today.

Perhaps the World is not ending just yet, after all.

The BIG NEWS here is that the Slovenian government has decided it is time to open things up.  Starting tomorrow, we are officially allowed to gather in groups (with masks and social distance).  The young missionaries are so excited they've planned an outing tomorrow where we will all meet in Ljubljana and drive up to Lake Bled at the foot of the Julian Alps.  It will be too cold to do very much, although it is rumored that the indoor ice rink up there will be open.  The scenery will be amazing and the youngsters will have fun getting reacquainted.

The other impact is that it looks like we will finally be allowed to hold church meetings.  The last one we had was in early October, and even then it was for no more than 10 people.  It was by invitation only and mainly served to provide the sacrament to those who did not have family members who could do it for them.  The last time we had an open sacrament meeting was in early July.    We don't yet know if we will be allowed to hold fully open meetings next week or if the total number will still be restricted.

I see on the news that the scientists are warning that we could still face a spring surge in COVID cases, and that could shut us down again, so we are hoping for the best and will take whatever we can get.

Liz and I still do not have official visas to be here.  We applied immediately after we arrived in Maribor, and we have done everything we could do to get them, but COVID closed the offices and everything is backed up.  Without a visa, we don't have a government ID number that is required to get on the list for vaccination.  The vaccine is available here, now and we are in the first wave of eligible recipients, but we can't apply.  We are trying to work a back-door way to get vaccinated, but so far no luck.