• I am amazed at the attitude we have to snow. Why weren’t we warned? Why can’t I get to work? Why haven’t they been out all night gritting the roads?

    Well, of course they have been out all night gritting the roads – maybe they weren’t expecting so much snow. Maybe there’s not a lot the council can do about it. Maybe you should stay at home for the day and keep the roads clear for the emergency services and not become an accident statistic yourself.

    Have we forgotten how to reschedule our lives. Can’t we take a day off and chalk it up to the vagaries of insurmountable natural forces.

    You wouldn’t go off into the desert without water and emergency supplies. We think we have nature tamed – when the snow falls and the temperatures plummet, I’m amazed to see people wandering around without warm coats or gloves or hats. They drive off into the sunset without sleeping bags, portable heating, thermos flasks, spades to dig themselves out with or even a full tank off petrol, blithely assuming the roads will be made clear for them and that if anything goes wrong others will risk their lives to save them.

    Yesterday I took my Mum to the hospital. The receptionist was shivering and bad-temperdly complaining about the cold. There was ice outside and she was wearing a thin sleeveless top!

    We lose touch with nature at our peril.

  • QUATRAIN

    This is my fourth word of the day, so I’ve chosen a word that has something to do with four.

    A Quatrain is a four line piece of verse. Usually the rhymes alternate, like so:

    I must go down to the sea again,
    To the lonely sea and the sky.
    I left my shoes and socks down there
    and I hope that they are dry.

    The word quatrain comes from quarter, which is one fourth of something whole.

    Learn a new word every day.
    Repeat it and remind yourself what it means at least three times in a day.
    Try to use the word in conversation or writing today.
    Get a dictionary and look words up.=

  • TERTIARY

    This is my tertiary word of the day. It is the third entry in the series on this blog. Tertiary means third in order or third level.

    Tertiary education is what you do after primary and secondary school, usually college or university.

    Learn a new word every day.
    Repeat it and remind yourself what it means at least three times in a day.
    Try to use the word in conversation or writing today.
    Get a dictionary and look words up.