PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

Deers From Sunrise ‘til Sunset

Week 139 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

I’m curled up in bed in a warm blanket. The heater is on full blast. And no, we have not acclimatized. Not yet. It’s freezing outside and our blood still longs for the African warmth.

But we’re happy with our new home. A trailer on site of our workplace overlooking the meadow in front of the forest. Deers walk in and out of the woods as frequently as humans go to the fridge to find something to eat.

And the best of it is we don’t even need to leave the comforting warmth of our home. We can do game viewing sitting at the breakfast table while it’s raining outside.

I can see us enjoying our stay down here. Just a few more days and hopefully some warmer temperatures, then we’ll be feeling better.

This week started with one more day at my parents' place. David had made us an oxtail stew and we were sitting all together chatting about life.

Outside, spring has sprung and is blooming in full swing. The flowers don’t mind the cold as much as we do and just continue growing.

On Friday was the big move. We spent half an hour stuffing our clothes into bags, then another half an hour loading all our belongings into the car.

Yes, we got practice with moving. We move on average every 6–7 months and usually between continents. After getting from Namibia to Germany last week, today we had to drive 3 hours to our new home.

Before unloading the car, we got into the trailer and scrubbed, wiped and vacuum-cleaned everything. Luckily we were busy inside when it got all of a sudden dark outside and a hailstorm moved across the caravan park.

Once the storm was gone, we unloaded the car and managed to fit everything into our new home. A trailer that doesn’t move. It’s what we’re renting for the season. For cheap. If people complain about rising renting costs, we can’t join. But we make sacrifices to save money for other things.

Like traveling.

Our first morning in the new home started with spotting deer from the kitchen window. Yes, I’m in love with this view already. And while the deer disappeared soon, they returned in the evening again.

Total count: 7 deer for the day.

Another day, another deer for game viewing from our trailer window. I can get used to this. I guess, eventually I’ll stop taking pictures of them but until then I will be bombarding you with wildlife photos.

I got to a total count of 6 today plus two hares. Those I spotted when I went for a walk across the fields.

And while the weather wasn’t good enough to go skydiving because of all the rain, we used one gap in the weather to go for a short walk.

It was cold and the ground was still wet, but I spotted some sprouts on the bushes at the edge of the forest. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, spring is right there. Just a hand reach away.

I believe.

And with those thoughts, I’m staring at the horizon where windmills are shaping the landscape. The setting sun painted the sky as the temperatures dropped below zero.

The next morning, we woke to sunshine. The first since we moved into our trailer. That’s the day I’m doing laundry. And where else to let them dry than out in the sun? Even when the temperatures are barely above freezing on the ground.

It’s worth a try, right?

We didn’t want to believe it but our new employer showed us that there is no temperature limit to skydiving. The plane was pushed outside and we had to get dressed. With all the clothes we could find.

Yes, this view from the airplane window is a little different from the desert views two weeks ago.

While we had -20°C (-4°F) at 13,000 feet, we jumped out training students in the air. Now, the thing about skydiving is that there’s a lot of adrenaline is involved.

None of our students got cold. They had enough adrenaline to not let them feel the real temperatures. They were dressed warmly but so were we. The instructors. The difference is that we don’t get an adrenaline kick when we leave the plane and therefore the cold hit us instantly.

It hurt.

This is work. And my choice. I shouldn’t be complaining. But it was really cold.

And while I did get to jump my new canopy for the first time. I struggled to steer it, flying with three pairs of gloves.

Yes, I’m missing the warmth.

The following day. No changes. But early in the morning, we started already. We went into the skies and launched at a whopping -25°C (-13°F). And when I thought yesterday was bad, today I did 5 jumps in the cold. Working jumps.

My body did burn a lot of calories in the cold. I am exhausted now. And I believe (and hope) it can only get warmer tomorrow.

Below you can see me and the fogged-up and then frozen visor of mine. That’s what happens when you exhale warm air in a full-face helmet and it’s outside far below freezing.

I’m sorry for all the complaining. I’m just cold right now. I’m sure I’ll feel better once the temperatures rise just a little and I can also get a chance to acclimatize.

This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.

Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne

And these are the previous weekly photo essays:

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