Walk like a penguin

I was having strange flashbacks to my college days today. Don't worry, nothing alarming like sketchy fraternity parties or anything, but it was more about the weather. We got our first snowfall in Basel yesterday and it is absolutely beautiful! But it is also quite dangerous, or gefährlich, as they say here. Even though we shoveled our sidewalk, not everybody else did such a good job as Kirk did, and it's very icy. (In fact, we must have done a really good job because our landlord gave us a very nice box of chocolates to thank us.) Walking Grady today reminded me of walking on campus back at the University of Minnesota the first day after a new snowfall (which was quite often). You feel like you have to walk like a penguin so you don't wipe out-- you know, legs straight and knees locked. Undoubtedly, back at the U, you always had one really bad fall each year (probably because you refused to wear sturdy snow boots instead of your fashionable shoes), and you hoped that nobody saw you, but you know they did. And you know they were all laughing, but you hoped that they also felt bad for you at the same time.