Good morning from Zurich, still in winter’s grip, which is ok as it is February and this tends to be the coolest month of the year around here.

But it is also the time when I start getting sick of winter. So, what can you do? I tend to look at winters here from my historic perspective and this tells me that things are about to change soon. And I buy flowers and hence myself some hyacinth bulbs that will bloom in a  week or so. The flower of today’s picture help, too. These are one of the results of yesterday’s painting class (very wet in very wet and super difficult…). The class is always a warmly welcomed break in my week’s routine. A couple of hours where there is not one single neuron thinking about the various news we get these days; and we get a lot of news that are somewhat troubling. Although, to be frank, when it comes to the Euro I sort of went into resilient mode. Looking at things from a historic perspective helps there, too. Like: Since 1800, Portugal and Greece went bankrupt 5 times. Spain even 7 times. Here’s an article from 2011 about this an other facts in the Telegraph.

So you see: States failing and going bankrupt is sort of normal.

Bank Runs are also sort of normal and happened here and there every couple of ten years. The generation before me, for instance, new about this from their parents and they -often- were hoarding the little money that they had somewhere at home, but not on banks. Or at least not everything.

Maybe we are just in for a new normal.

Anyhow, to fight the winter cold and the winter blues and in anticipation of happy spring days I buy seeds, too. This year: Tomato seeds. After last year’s spectacular growth and harvest – although our summer was a pain to grow tomatoes outside with a lot of rain and cool temperatures- I am looking very much forward to this year’s tomato venture. I will soon get seeds from special tomato types, one of them being a wild species, a mini tomato (think fingertip sized), originally from Peru that is said to be unbelievable taste. The real thing. And super robust. And getting big. … you see: We are in dream mode already.

Thus, today in the factory, when trying to pack empty glass bottles and pumps and all, I will be in dream mode about a bright sunny tomatoes future. In case you wonder: The empty bottles fly west, to the US, to get filled and packed there. This is a developing story, a new venture in a way, an experiment, a game, and a bet, and a first step towards leaving Euro wonderland.