'Cold' War

Street Art, Berlin

Photograph by Marcela Proctor, My Shot

Taken on a cold night in Berlin, Germany, as my brother and I were admiring the incredible street art.

(This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.)

It's January and chilly here in the mid-west. You know the kind of chill that makes you want to keep moving even when you are standing still.

It reminded me of a January evening when I was living in Berlin. While I was there I did volunteer work for the Red Cross and I had left my office and walked the few blocks to the bus stop for my ride home. As I stood at the corner stop waiting for the bus it was a chilly night just like tonight.

I found myself hopping from one foot to the other to help keep the chill away. A woman approached me and said to me in English, "You're from America..." I replied that I was and asked how she knew.

She laughed, in her German way, and said, "only American's hop like that to keep warm."