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| Snow |
A last look at the snow, which for just 2 days of this week, sent this little corner of Hampshire into utter chaos. To be fair, the area has never seen this much snow in one go before within living memory and neither had my cats – one of whom seriously hated it, the other enjoyed it immensely. Strange beings.
Overnight, last night, so much rain had fallen that it had washed all of that snow away, barring just some tiny traces that have also since been washed away by further rain during the day. It seemed to have melted, the temperatures have risen and there are liquid puddles, but I’m informed that the roads and pavements are still like sheet ice, so going out is still impossible.
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| Proper cold |
Apparently, not even the main roads in this area have been gritted, which is exactly the same as didn’t happen last time we had snow too. Over the border into Dorset, at least the main roads have been cleared, so it’s reported.
Since I stagger, slip and slide even in perfect weather and always hurt myself when I fall, I think staying in is a sensible and very necessary precaution.
To be honest, over the last several days I’ve felt so low and sluggish that it has taken a supreme effort just to walk to the loo or the kitchen and back and just those activities – already simplified to the least possible exertion – have been too much for me, making it necessary for me to lie down to “get over” the exertion in between trips. Today, just walking to the kitchen and back made me shake from head to foot from the over-exertion: it’s almost impossible to explain how weak and generally unwell one feels as a result.
So, OK, I wouldn’t have been able to go out anyway, but somehow, when the weather adds yet another level of difficulty and makes being housebound a complete fait accompli, it’s the final straw and becomes harder to bear.
Since I stagger, slip and slide even in perfect weather and always hurt myself when I fall, I think staying in is a sensible and very necessary precaution.
To be honest, over the last several days I’ve felt so low and sluggish that it has taken a supreme effort just to walk to the loo or the kitchen and back and just those activities – already simplified to the least possible exertion – have been too much for me, making it necessary for me to lie down to “get over” the exertion in between trips. Today, just walking to the kitchen and back made me shake from head to foot from the over-exertion: it’s almost impossible to explain how weak and generally unwell one feels as a result.
So, OK, I wouldn’t have been able to go out anyway, but somehow, when the weather adds yet another level of difficulty and makes being housebound a complete fait accompli, it’s the final straw and becomes harder to bear.
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| The most snow the area has ever seen |
On Thursday, all the trains in this area were suspended and we had no mail deliveries. Our buses didn’t run on either Thursday or Friday. Nothing new, of course, but this whole “Britain surprised by a sprinkling of annual white stuff, yet again”, is becoming very seriously irritating.
On Thursday I couldn’t have gone to a pre-arranged meeting, walking a mile each way in snow, but then as I couldn’t get an answer on the phone, I’m guessing nobody else could either. On Friday, my course was cancelled, but again, I wouldn’t have been able to get there, walking, in any case.
And today, I decided to give the local Christmas Extravaganza a miss, not just because of the ice, but also because I reckon the title is a piece of seriously extreme marketing exaggeration – considering the size of this no-horse town and the general level of excitement one might expect around here. Frankly, I couldn’t be arsed, which is about how I feel about the season generally.
On Thursday I couldn’t have gone to a pre-arranged meeting, walking a mile each way in snow, but then as I couldn’t get an answer on the phone, I’m guessing nobody else could either. On Friday, my course was cancelled, but again, I wouldn’t have been able to get there, walking, in any case.
And today, I decided to give the local Christmas Extravaganza a miss, not just because of the ice, but also because I reckon the title is a piece of seriously extreme marketing exaggeration – considering the size of this no-horse town and the general level of excitement one might expect around here. Frankly, I couldn’t be arsed, which is about how I feel about the season generally.
