Another chilly (but sunny!) day

Winter in Almaty is cold.  For the majority of December and January, temperatures were well below freezing -- sometimes bitterly so.  Often the pollution is so bad you can't even see the Tien Shan Mountains.  This is all a shock for us having recently moved here after living four years in the San Francisco Bay Area where it never freezes and our winter coat is just a sweater and a light jacket. Today, however, is not one of those disgusting days.  It's cold, sure, but the sun is out and the air is refreshingly clean.  I can easily make out pine trees on the slopes of the mountains.  The sky is blue.  I'm eager for spring to arrive, but, as long as it's going to be cold, more of these sorts of days will keep the spirits high.