Monday 4 January 2021

Waiting?

When we were kids we always used to view snow that hung about for days getting grubby but going nowhere as snow that was 'waiting for its friends to join it' meaning the there would be sledging in 'the hills and hollows' our local sledging field and with luck the school might even be shut for a couple of days.   Now of course I have mor less reached that stage again - it does look quite pretty and I can't go anywhere anyway.   But all those years in between were years of frustration - icy roads, traffic cross-ways on on the hills, everyone late for work.   At first this morning, when my carer came, the sun was breaking through and the sky looked promising.   But now at 11.03 the sky is grey and the odd flake is falling and the outlook is wintry.

I have done a little bit of 'office work' - paying the newspaper bill, filling in a form and putting it ready to post,  getting in touch with the Physio.   The job I am hoping to do today is to get my land line handset working properly.   When I went into hospital when I broke my hip I never used my Mobile and really didn't know how to work it.  Necessity meant I learned very quickly.   Now, having bought a new pair of handsets for my landline I am in the same situation with them and have really got in quite a muddle.   I really must get myself sorted out.

As usual last evening, after watching Sir David Attenborough's new programme on our Planet, I marvel at his expertise and his delivery well into his Nineties as well as the fact that we do indeed live on the most wonderful Planet.   It did strike me, as I watched the Maribou Storks waiting 'in the wings' to pick off any stragglers amongst the baby flamingoes that really we are one of the few species who have no natural enemies and so what do we do?   We make them, left right and centre, we spend millions on the manufacture of arms while millions of children in poorer countries starve, we turn a blind eye on children with limbs blown off in countries like Syria, on starving children in countries like Yemen; we turn back boats holding immigrants intent on getting what they hope will be a better life.   What a strange world we live in.

As I sit here the grey sky has gone and blue prevails once more.   The sun is shining in the window.   My carer has brought me a plate of the casserole they had for lunch yesterday, which is marvellous.   I have Dauphinoise Potatoes and mixed greens left from my Sunday lunch yesterday - so the microwave calls.   What did we do before them?

22 comments:

Derek Faulkner said...

It began raining steadily here on Sheppey at about 4.00 this morning, cold rain pushed in from the Thames Estuary on an icy wind. A lot of rain has fallen already and it is forecast to continue doing so right through until Weds morning. That is a lot of rain to come on already water-logged ground. It's been some time now since we saw the sun.
I guess after the imminent 3rd Lock-down, which is likely before the end of the week, I reckon the next fiasco will be vaccinations and failure to deliver them around the country anywhere near as speedily as is promised. I'm 73 but will be surprised if I'm done, even once, before Easter.

Mary said...

I never had a microwave until after my fourth child was born. For almost ten years, I don't think I ever got to sit down to a hot meal without being interrupted to take care of someone or something. Which means that before I had a microwave, I usually ended up eating cold/lukewarm, dried out meals. Ah well. It still took a while to learn how to use a microwave for reheating meals so as not to end up with a leathery result. :)

Anonymous said...

You mentioned getting new boots - have you tried moving about the house without slippers - either barefoot or with just socks? It is after all our most natural way of walking. After continuous problems with my back I was advised to ditch the slippers or shoes in the house and what a difference this has made to the back pain! I'm barefoot in the summer and just socks in the winter.

If your house is cosy and warm you soon get adjusted to the difference, it's rarely that my feel chilly now.

Ellen D. said...

Your carers are really fabulous. Bringing you homemade meals is a treat (especially when they are tasty!)
We have made such a mess of our world, haven't we?

Rambler said...

The other programme which struck me forcibly about the precarious state of our planet was the one about Torvill and Dean's trip to Alaska. Their dream was to skate 'in the wild' rather than being confined to an ice rink, but the shock was that in the whole of Alaska it became almost impossible to find a suitable frozen lake. The climate has warmed so much that the glaciers are melting at a rapid rate. Plenty of snow, but the ice is disappearing.
Shocking and very frightening, because what's happening in Alaska will most certainly affect the rest of Planet Earth, for us and future generations.

Rachel Phillips said...

Waiting for Godot eh?

Debby said...

Your post affected me greatly today. We have no natural enemies and so we make them. Truer words have not be spoken. My heart breaks for children growing up in places like Afghanistan. Hosseini Khaled says it best, I think. Simply: the children have no childhood. I want to gather them all up and bring them home and give them the joy of being children.

Susan said...

It certainly is a strange world where our values and priorities seem to have lost all sense of compassion and caring. On a small scale of course this is not true when I see the marvellous care given by healthcare workers, cheerful delivery people, helpful repair men and the like. Could it be we are voting in the wrong people to make major decisions for us? In regard to your previous post about older people getting vaccines later, I agree. We are far more able to isolate. Let the young people get it so we can get our schools, hospitals, and the economy functioning at peak performance again.

Heather said...

I remember that saying about the snow lying around waiting for more to fall, from my youth.
I don't use my microwave for cooking but it is so useful to reheat precooked meals which I make in bulk and then freeze in single portions. As for phones, I had to get used to two new handsets for my landline recently and am still struggling with the mobile. Here we are once more in lockdown so it will take a bit longer without close contact with my tutors! Keep warm and keep smiling.

Mary said...

If you have hardwood or tile flooring Pat, please be careful walking about in socks - they can be very slippery! As far as barefoot, I'm really uncomfortable doing that these days because, as we age, the fat pads on the bottom of our feet thin and one feels like one is walking on bare bones - very uncomfortable!

Take care and stay safe.
Happy New Year - Mary

Minigranny said...

Thinking about snowy days takes me back to sledging in the field next to our house - a wonderful slope and avoid the big Oak at the bottom and hearing the cold, hard bark of a fox. Magical days.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Mary I do have hospital socks, which have plastic 'bubbles' underneath to stop slipping but I no long wear them as I can now get both slippers and boots on.

Red said...

"When we were kids" This caught my eye. When we were kids we were a lot of good things. When I look back to my childhood it always seems sunny. We could slide in snow all day. Those were the days.

Joanne Noragon said...

I did "government work" myself this morning. Paid a bill, sorted a problem. Best to have something to do...

Cro Magnon said...

When I let Billy out at 5am this morning, it was slightly snowing. He had a quick look around, then came straight back. It's now 5.45am and it's stopped. Thank goodness.

Librarian said...

After a series of grey sky days without anything coming down, the forecast is for snow this afternoon. I am planning on a walk after work; it will be dark by then but the snow - if it will indeed come - will make for enough light.
Yes, we are a weird species. With our capacity of self-destruction, it is a miracle we have managed to over-populate the planet. And somehow, we seem to never really learn.

Tigger's Mum said...

What did we do before microwaves? Our family ate dinner at midday, so when I started school my 'dinner' was saved on a plate, covered with a potlid and reheated sitting on top of a pot of boiling water for serving up to me when the rest of the family were eating 'tea'. We concur in your comments about creating our own 'predators', although, maybe our real predators are tiny ones: viruses.

Bovey Belle said...

It's warmed up down here in Wales (thank Heavens, and may it stay that way until we've moved). My mum always said if a wee bit of snow was lingering, it was hanging round waiting for more to join it.

We are indeed a strange race - with a large Greed gene and a survival "I'm alright Jack" button which is being illustrated by the selfish acts during the Pandemic. Fortunately this is balanced by the selfless caring people out there.

My new "popty ping" is earning its keep warming up leftovers too, though I wouldn't cook from scratch in it.

Keep warm.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I wouldn't be without my Remoska BB
Tigger - I remember the dinner on top of boiling water well.

Thanks you lot - you always brighten my day.

Brenda said...

Take care. You are amazing. Prayers.

Virginia said...

I lovely microwave for quickly reheating food, but rarely s it as a microwave otherwise; fortunately it's also normal oven so it's very useful for that, especially as it had smaller grill so heats more quickly. I've got an antique plate with a tin "hot water bottle" attached to its base, which is probably late 1800s. I suppose it would have been used to serve invalids a hot meal in bed. It was my mother's and I've never seen another one. And talking of my mother, she used to refer to her tea as "duck pond", because she always got called away before she's drunk it hot!

The news from your side of the world is particularly bleak today, I'm sorry for all those stuck in inadequate housing (or none at all!), particularly with children. Which reminds me, one of the (few) happy results of New Zealand's lockdown was getting almost every person off the streets and into accomodation. The social workers scooped them up and motels/rooming houses etc were provided so they were safe and warm, and it is reported that many of them have chosen to settle into accommodation rather than go back to the streets.A couple of weeks ago, one man was written up in the weekend paper showing his little flat with great pride, saying it was the first time in ?20? years he had felt he belonged. It probably cost a huge amount, but how wonderful to achieve that!

I'm not sure I agree with the Barefoot/Socks suggestion - I'd certainly have cold, sore feet if I did that. Keep safe, and warm.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks everyone.