UBC January 2025 - Sheep in the Snow and a Shootout

Welcome back to UBC in January!

A few days after the Lucy Lights lighting and the major snowfall, there was still some left, as you can see. Hubby measured 21cm, which is 8.2 inches on his car. 

It's most probably more on this patio table in the greater Lucerne area where Colin had a hockey game. 

The routine for away games is that we need to drop him 75 minutes before the game starts. This will give the team enough time for an off-ice warm-up, a briefing, putting on their elaborate gear and another on-ice warm-up, doing puck drills and the like. 

It means there's usually enough time for us parents to head into whatever town we're at and do some sight-seeing or get a snack. Ideally both! I am always looking for scenic footage for my video's intro. 

Video? Yes, I have been filming Colin's games for years, turning it into a highlight video every time. Takes me a lot of work, but I enjoy it. Players actually use it to celebrate (or critique) their game, and parents or relatives who can't be present for the game or simply think arenas are too cold, watch it in the comfort of their living room.

On this particular day, the snowy landscape was too picturesque to pass up. While wandering near the lake, we stumbled upon a peaceful scene.

It instantly reminded me of one of my favorite moments from earlier this fall when I witnessed the birth of two lambs in October. 

Since then, I have grown fond of sheep. I mean I always thought they are cuddly and cute but I never paid closer attention to them.

And just like that, they even inspired me to bake cupcakes on National Apple Day!

Back to the sheep in the snow. They didn't seem to mind the cold and were peacefully grazing by the lake. What a sight!

By the way, even though I said this was in the Lucerne area, it's not Lake Lucerne, but Lake Sempach, situated a bit West to the city of Lucerne.

The medieval small town is called Sursee, and it's quite picturesque, especially with a snow-covered Christmas tree, don't you think?

Timbered house as you can see on the picture below, we call them Riegelhaus. It is the best-known use of timber framing in building construction in large parts of Switzerland and Germany. It is a skeleton construction made of wood in which the spaces (compartments) are filled with a wooden mesh plastered with clay or with masonry. 

Timber-framed houses were mainly built between the 15th and 18th centuries.

During this period, timber construction was particularly popular due to the availability of wood and the further development of building techniques.

I find it extraordinarily fantastic how well preserved these old buildings still are. 

Off-topic: I'm glad this Buddha statue found themselves a shelter on this windowsill so they don't have to mediate in the snow ;-)

So the game... 

It's been a painfully hard hockey season so far for a bunch of reasons. One being the strongest 2008-born players that in theory still belong to the U17 team have prematurely moved on to U20 for a bunch of reasons. One being they're not being happy with the coach and the team manager. This leaves Colin as the team's captain with very few core players and some lateral entrants who come from street field hockey or inline field hockey, i.e. who master the stick technique and the rules of the game, but have clear disadvantages in skating.

Last season, EHC Sursee was not an opponent to be feared, but this time our team suddenly found themselves in a situation where they let their 0 : 2 lead slip and were even overtaken. To our delight (and my personal pride), Colin managed to equalize five seconds before the end and force a shootout. (There is no overtime at this junior level).

See for yourself. If you want to skip the game, just watch the scenic intro and then Colin's goal around 10:10, followed by the shootout.

So, given the choice, which activity would sound more appealing to you?

• Walk by the lake
• City stroll
• Hockey match