Preparing for winter

Lately, I've been noticing something new hanging on the neighbors' clotheslines--vegetables. Following a tradition that developed because fresh fruits and vegetables were difficult to acquire in the winter, everyone has been drying out and salting squash, cabbage and leeks for the long winter ahead.

Here is a particularly pretty set of curlicue squash.

I took this picture from my kitchen window. I probably see about 20 trucks with cabbage on my walk to school.

Just 30 minutes later...and look at the crowd he is attracting.

Now, you ask, where do they store all of this produce? In the windowsill in the stairwell, of course. I can't imagine that this is the cleanest area in the building. I'm really looking forward to the smell of rotting cabbage hitting me in the mornings.

It ends up that the preparations for winter were very timely, as winter hit us in a wave on Saturday. We are in the 30s now, and the state won't turn on the heat in buildings until November 15. Yikes! How hard will it be to type with gloves on?

By the way...our preparations for the winter? Well, my roommate found real cocoa in the Western supermarket the other day!