happy new year!
Jan. 2nd, 2010 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ewein2412It is still snowing. We have not seen the ground for two weeks. I have lived in the UK for 15 years and this is an all-time first.
Also, the Tay is starting to freeze. HOW COOL IS THAT.
We walked into town yesterday, New Year's Day, to look at it. All the shops were shut. It was exactly high tide and the river was absolutely still--I've never seen it before that the water wasn't moving very rapidly, high or low. Perth Bridge, the stone arch bridge that is a couple of years older than the United States of America, was perfectly reflected in the water. (It was too dark to take a decent picture.)
I have been thinking about![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
deliasherman's comment about having to keep the sidewalk of a corner lot clear of snow, and it has dawned on me that part of the reason Britain "grinds to a halt" when it snows is because no one clears the pavement in front of their house. Or, indeed, even in front of their shop. It's rather incredible. It doesn't even OCCUR to them (as Sara pointed out, they probably don't have snow shovels). The situation here is that it snowed 8 inches one week ago, and the pavements are still covered with 8 inches of snow--making it extremely difficult to walk anywhere. Added to this, people have cleared their driveways, plowing up huge dikes of snow ACROSS the pavements, meaning every time you come to a driveway you either have to climb over a waist-high mound of snow, or you have to detour into the street (which is icy and none too clear of snow either).
What amazes me is how universal it is--the only clear bit of pavement in the whole city, apart from those major routes plowed by the Council with their little pavement plough, is the bit in front (and in back) of our house. And, of course, most of the block around our house that Sara obsessed over.
You'd think one or two people might do it as a courtesy--or even to make their own lives more convenient! WHERE IS YOUR CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY, PEOPLE???
We had our New Year's Eve in the summer house with a bonfire in our fire basket; and Lebkuchen and popcorn and pink champagne and fireworks. We tried to make the maple sugar candy on snow and FAILED AGAIN! But it was a very good party. I skied up to the reservoir under the blue moon and there was a layer of fog hanging in the Tay, absolutely magical. I bought my cross-country skis in 2001, the last time we had snow on the ground for a week, and haven't used them much since. But this is the first time I have been able to ski down the middle of our street a week after the snow actually fell.
Tim and I were married on New Year's Day in 1996. We have now been married for 14 years, 1 day, and about 18 hours.
Also, the Tay is starting to freeze. HOW COOL IS THAT.
We walked into town yesterday, New Year's Day, to look at it. All the shops were shut. It was exactly high tide and the river was absolutely still--I've never seen it before that the water wasn't moving very rapidly, high or low. Perth Bridge, the stone arch bridge that is a couple of years older than the United States of America, was perfectly reflected in the water. (It was too dark to take a decent picture.)
I have been thinking about
deliasherman's comment about having to keep the sidewalk of a corner lot clear of snow, and it has dawned on me that part of the reason Britain "grinds to a halt" when it snows is because no one clears the pavement in front of their house. Or, indeed, even in front of their shop. It's rather incredible. It doesn't even OCCUR to them (as Sara pointed out, they probably don't have snow shovels). The situation here is that it snowed 8 inches one week ago, and the pavements are still covered with 8 inches of snow--making it extremely difficult to walk anywhere. Added to this, people have cleared their driveways, plowing up huge dikes of snow ACROSS the pavements, meaning every time you come to a driveway you either have to climb over a waist-high mound of snow, or you have to detour into the street (which is icy and none too clear of snow either).What amazes me is how universal it is--the only clear bit of pavement in the whole city, apart from those major routes plowed by the Council with their little pavement plough, is the bit in front (and in back) of our house. And, of course, most of the block around our house that Sara obsessed over.
You'd think one or two people might do it as a courtesy--or even to make their own lives more convenient! WHERE IS YOUR CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY, PEOPLE???
We had our New Year's Eve in the summer house with a bonfire in our fire basket; and Lebkuchen and popcorn and pink champagne and fireworks. We tried to make the maple sugar candy on snow and FAILED AGAIN! But it was a very good party. I skied up to the reservoir under the blue moon and there was a layer of fog hanging in the Tay, absolutely magical. I bought my cross-country skis in 2001, the last time we had snow on the ground for a week, and haven't used them much since. But this is the first time I have been able to ski down the middle of our street a week after the snow actually fell.
Tim and I were married on New Year's Day in 1996. We have now been married for 14 years, 1 day, and about 18 hours.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 01:22 pm (UTC)It is also true that I am utterly incapable of designing a straightforward Baddie, and end up giving them children and ulterior motives and guilty consciences.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-03 08:17 pm (UTC)