Here's a Christmassy picture of our house:
Maybe we could have lights on the Ivy one year -- but that would require access to electricity from outside ... The amazing thing about this picture is that the snow had been around for over a week -- and it's still dripping from the trees. And not a centimeter of snow had been removed from the roads or pavements, either. Our steps are cleared and sanded -- by my dear hard-working you know who!!What was most infuriating about the lack of snow removal was the discovery that Southport in particular was so badly served. On the 22nd of December it was necessary to try to get to Leeds Airport to pick up my son and we were concerned that it would be impossible to navigate through the Yorkshire dales. We warned Andrew that we might have difficulty -- he thought we were exagerating and indeed so it proved because as soon as we were a few miles outside of Southport the roads were just fine -- and especially fine in Yorkshire!!! But Southport remained like this:
Remained like this, except icier, until it melted after New Year's Eve!! An eye-witness friend of my son reported seeing the gritter going down Lord Street followed by a plow.Honest ... I love Andy's Facebook comment:- WTF IS GOING ON IN SOUTHPORT!!??? I mean WTF??????????????? Surely in 5 days the council can get its act together and at least shove a shovel up their own arses before taking a stroll around town. I dont have much money either but i'll sure as hell find a shovel to beat you!!!
I find I am avoiding taking in too much about politics in America. What is going on there is for me terribly depressing. I still believe in President Obama and I still think that he is a great man, who may not be appreciated until it is too late to benefit the country. His behaviour in Arizona and his insistence on remaining civil and above the political fray is frustrating sometimes, but I know he is right to persist in his vision of how a President should behave. Before made his speech I suspected it would be a moment to be compared to Lincoln at Gettysburg and it did indeed serve to show the calibre of the man and the ability a great man has to heal the wounds of bitterness and grief.
So will the Honorable Members of Congress managed to tone down the vitriol and avoid separating themselves according to party affiliation for Obama's upcoming State of the Union address on January 25th? Will John McCain continue to show his former bi-partisan nature as the new Congress goes forward? Has the United States of America merely paused, or has the country opened its eyes to a better and less bitter way ahead?
Only just found this and had to laugh about your snow experience. My brother-in-law and his wife live in Southport and their children always complained that it never snows there. I doubt the council owns a snow-shovel, let alone a snow-plough :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about President Obama, whom I admire very much. I stayed up all night when he was elected, so that I could watch his acceptance speech at 5am!