Second Helpings

Snow White

We've taken off from and landed at different airports in floods, heatwaves and gale force winds, but touching down at two in the morning onto a snow-covered runway is another first I'd rather not have experienced.

We were fortunate however in that our plane being the last arrival at our local airport and staff eager to finish work, meant no delays and an efficient passage through the formalities before setting off home.

Our son was fortunate too, as the last lap of his journey back to England from Cambodia was a flight from Bangkok which was one of the first to land at Heathrow this morning, before chaos and cancellations set in. He did however have problems travelling from London, which seems to have ground to a standstill during rush hour. But, thankfully he's now safely at home and can rest and relax a little before the rest of his family arrive back next week. In theory.

All week while we've been away we've listened to reports of this bad spell of weather making its way to our little island and a very accurate forecast it turned out to be. So, why no precautions are taken, no gritters or snowploughs are in evidence and the whole country grinds to a chaotic halt, I have no idea. Schools and offices close, rail, road and air transport is seriously disrupted, operations in hospitals are cancelled and it would seem there is no other topic to report on the News.

All for about six inches of snow. I have a photograph from our local Newspaper circa 1958 of myself and some of my friends in our school playground, working on a snowball bigger than any of us. No one questioned if the school was closed, indoor playtimes were not an option and the press obviously got there to take the photo despite there being far more white stuff on the ground than there is today. I guess it's what we call progress.

Talking of white stuff, I must admit it is a bit of a novelty to actually see more than a smattering of snow for the first time in almost twenty years. But in my mind snow white is not what shows up on my screen since the colour changes on WDC. Either my monitors or eyeballs need a good clean or the sickly yellow we've grown accustomed to refuses to completely fade to white. I for one will be selecting to keep my walls in the familiar shade I love to hate.

More snow on the way tomorrow I gather, so maybe the country will just hang up a closed sign and not be heard of again until we've thawed. I suppose all the kiddywinks will be off school and that worries me. I mean, if they're actually allowed to go out there and build snowmen, just think of all those noses and the affect it could have on the price of carrots.