and there is light (and snow)

Last night I wasn't woken by the wind pushing against the window, nor the rain battering the roof. I was hopeful that it might be a somewhat calmer day than yesterday. And guess what? It was. I felt almost happy on my way to work, and for the first time since before Christmas I chose to cycle through the woods. I figured that the muddy paths would be frozen over, giving me good grip, better than the road surface in fact. I was hoping that the fastest route would not be obstructed by an uprooted tree and was lucky. Even better, I am not cold. I have taken to wear a hat and wooly turtleneck inside the house because although the heating appears to be functioning fine, I was chilled to the bone from cycling and walking through the wind and rain for days and my body did not seem to be able to warm up. It is just me, the children whose feel-good thermostat must be set differently from mine are running around half naked as usual. In the house of course, not on their way to school. To my utter delight, when I emerged from a morning in the downstairs windowless lab, I noticed snow gently falling. I immediately started planning a sledging adventure for tomorrow. I do love sledging.

On my way home I saw the sun. Yes, the sun. I felt like an Antarctic explorer after a long Antarctic winter.

And better still, I noticed not one but two snowdrops in my front garden.

Unfortunately by the time I got home from dropping Sam and his friend Theo off at the indoor ski arena it was dark and the snowdrops were covered with snow, so no photo. How ironic is that, Sam skiing indoors and outside the snow is falling fast and steady. It took 15 min to get there and 75 to get back because Glasgow drivers, rush hour and snow just don't mix. We are not talking about a long distance trip here. I wish I had talked them out of after school skiing but assuming that the snow would turn into rain any minute I didn't. I was moaning about the unfairness of it all but I am not any longer. It took Richard 3.5 hours to pick the big boys up from skiing, collect James and his friend from a birthday party and get home again. That's the same distance as before. 

Snow doesn't last long in Glasgow. Not usually. So after a late dinner, Alistair, Annie, Jack and I went outside to have a bit of a snowball fight. We made snow angels, chased the dog and generally had a good laugh. I don't laugh often enough. It was very liberating. I thought it was a shame that James missed out on the fun (being stuck in the car). Riddled with guilt, I took him out for a bit when he finally got home but Alistair has a nose for fun and immediately got out of bed when he heard us laugh. He was having such a tantrum watching from the bedroom window that I worried he might break the glass and we aborted the fun. Then I thought hell, that's not fair and I allowed Annie to take James back out again for a wee while. I was expecting a house call from the local social work department (it was by that time well after 9pm and they were playing on the road) but I guess they were stuck in the snow.

Better enjoy the snow when it is fresh, it might be all gone tomorrow morning.

So today I am going to bed with a lighter heart than I did yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that. I hadn't realised quite how demoralising this stormy wet weather was.

Have a lovely weekend my friends! Cx

 

P.S. The top picture is from the archives, I did of course not have my camera today on my way back from work.