Here It Is Again!

I was not around (i.e - alive, in case you thought I might have been in sunnier climes) when the last severe snowfall occurred in the months of November and December, which was in the 1963.

Plus, now having moved to live 'oop narth', I have to cope with colder temperatures anyway, so naturally that must mean snowier snow than 'darn sarf'.

This theory has definitely been proved correct over the last few weeks and whilst I love the white stuff (snow - obviously) it amazes me just how fickle people can be about it. We have to remember that, there are things that we have no control of in life, like death, the lottery results and of course the weather.

My Grandad said that we should always have respect for the weather as it is, as its more commonly know, as a force of nature and capable of quite a bit!

I wonder how they coped in the 1960's, well they were much less reliant on gas and electricity. Few homes have radios of phones that work in a power cut and alot of people cant cook without an oven or a microwave.

We rely on road haulage far too much, we just don't have the network for heavy rail transportation. Foods come from all over the world, then transported to distribution centres to then be distributed to the shops. Back then I imagine people would have been alot more self-sufficient (grown their veg, made their bread etc). Things would have been alot more localised, there are so many complaints that schools are closed, well this is because the teachers don't live nearby anymore. Nearly all of the teachers at the local high school live an hour's drive away, again an example of how we all rely on our cars a great deal. Mind you in some Cities, they don't have a choice as they are priced out of the housing market.

Operations are being cancelled (again the same problem of staff not being local), commuters stuck at home, work or even inbetween, but we have to adapt and work with what we have got.

Tonight, I was just thinking about going to bed (10.30pm) when there was a knock at the front door. We live in the middle of nowhere, so given the conditions (8 inches of snow dumped on us today), I knew it was someone in need of help.

A chap had come off the road and gone in to the ditch (as quite a few people have over the past 3 weeks). He told us that friends had come up by train and he was going to pick them up, even though he had told them not to come. And now, for his trouble he was in a bit of a sticky situation.

The Hubstacle went out with him, first the tried to dig him out, but in the end the chains and the Landrover had to be used. This chap - a 7ft South African man was totally and utterly grateful - not surprised considering the recovery people were saying that there was no chance of getting to him.

He drove off (very slowly) and we hope that he made it to his guests and home safely. I also hope that his guests make sure they show how grateful they are. Mind you, The Hubstacle said he was in a saloon car with sports tyres - silly sod!