Sunday 7 January 2018

Sunday

We awoke this morning to a sharp frost and a rather white world - very beautiful, but icy pavements are a no-go for Tess and me.   In fact we didn't venture out for our morning walk until after eleven when the sun had melted the frost on the footpaths.

We went to our usual Golf Club for lunch - four of us today and, as always, it was delicious.   Much quieter today too after the Christmas rush.   I must say it struck me as I sat there eating a Sunday dinner among quite a lot of local people, just how lucky we all are to be able to afford to go out every Sunday, to get someone else to cook our food for us, and never have to worry about where the next meal is coming from.   If only people everywhere were in the same position.   If only there weren't children dying for want of food.   I know us stopping eating our lunch out wouldn't make the slightest difference - but I still felt guilty.
And what can we do?   There is so very little in a world torn apart by conflicts, a world where equality is a word unheard of by millions, a world where people are born, live their lives and die all in abject poverty. 

Coming home was an ordeal as the beautiful sun was directly in my eyes most of the way and it was already beginning to freeze hard.   I drove at 40mph and impatient drivers kept passing me.  Why this impatience?   Surely it is better to be safe than to risk one's life (and that of others) on such road conditions?

Now there is a beautiful sunset - the whole sky is red.   No snow forecast so we shall all keep our fingers crossed.

18 comments:

Sue in Suffolk said...

I'm glad you were able to get out once the frost had gone
Bright and sunny here today - surprised to find no frost this morning. Drove to Addenbrookes along a quiet A14 at 70mph and there are people going past at 85mph+ MAD

Jennifer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennifer said...

Enjoy your lunches out. Denying yourself little luxuries won't make any difference in the state of world or the plight of the poor. As to the impatient drivers--I hate it when people act like that. I've learned to let them get mad and honk and speed around me, if they must. Doesn't bother me a bit. I'd rather arrive home safely than a few minutes sooner.

angryparsnip said...

Silly drivers.
We can always tell the tourists and winter people here from the locals.
They live in terrible weather but come here and forget how to drive in a little rain. Snowbirds drivers.
They be crazy.
Happy you have this nice group to lunch with on Sunday.

cheers, parsnip and mandibles

Derek Faulkner said...

Bitterly cold here on Sheppey this morning in a NE gale coming straight off the Thames Estuary and across the marsh but no frost.

Penhill said...

What was it about today that bought all the angry aggressive drivers onto the roads?Drove back from Newcastle after dropping daughter off at university a journey we do often.At every slip road onto the motorway cars driven at dangerous speeds causing amazing avoiding actions by people already on the motorway!!!

lynda said...

Just wanted to reply about your comments about the book in the US about tRump....if you don't live there, you don't realise the daily stress from the lies, deceptions, and sheer incompetence....and any news of insights into a possible impeachment is what we all want to read...I've been in the U.K. for 2 weeks now and have had NO HEADACHES since I left the US...the stress is actually causing people to be ILL....

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

Been a very cold day today for my walking around! But I always enjoy it.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Strange how the world changes almost without our noticing; it was not so many years ago when only the very rich and the very posh went out for meals at all - certainly not in a Golf Club, you were lucky to get more than a pickled egg or a bag of crisps in a pub, and my Uncle Henry regularly complained of mad drivers going at 35 mph. The only constant is war and famine in less fortunate lands than ours.

Rachel Phillips said...

I prefer to know where my food comes from even if it is only a cheese sandwich.

DUTA said...

Where I live, It's quite a common sight: at least once a week, clusters of elderly women from all social backgrounds, gather at some central, spacious eatery, usually Mc.Donalds, where they can sit comfortably and chat for hours on a meal of salad, burger, coffee.
Even those who you might suspect don't have the means for that - not to worry, social security is very generous.

Heather said...

The low sunlight in winter makes driving so difficult, I am glad I don't drive any more.
I often count my blessings when I hear and see the news. Donating to a few charities is about the best I can do to make a difference, but I know I am very fortunate to have a warm and comfortable flat, enough food and clothes, plus a very loving and supportive family nearby.

Joanne Noragon said...

I eat out often, not because I cannot afford to make up the stray meal, but because I need the company. I wish children weren't dying. I wish bombs weren't falling. I wish I could do more. I do what I can. xxoo Joanne

Mac n' Janet said...

We were out for the first time in a week and the road was full of loonies. So one accident going and one coming home.
It does seem unfair that in this day and age that we're still dealing with problems of poverty and hunger.

Librarian said...

Like you, I often stop to think about how lucky I am to live where I do, in this time and age, where I can decide for myself what to do for a living, where exactly to live (and who with). In the not so distant past, and in many countries all over the world still at present, a woman who becomes widowed at 41 years with no children depends on the generosity of her family to house and feed her, or she is forced to marry again, just so that she has some food in her stomach and a roof over her head.

We witnessed a lot of dangerous driving the other day when it was raining really hard and people were overtaking us left, right and centre in spite of bad visibility.

Tom Stephenson said...

You can drive as slow as you want to, Weave. There used to be a little, turquois Austin A30 driven by an elderly couple who went to Bath Abbey every Sunday from somewhere down the A36. I used to love being in the mile-long queue behind them as they snaked their way home at 20 MPH.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Agree about the sun. Was offered a lift yesterday and nearly got into the wrong car cos I couldn't properly see where I was going - there was a silhouette about the right size for a car and a vaguely visible handle.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Tom - not so much of the 'elderly couple' if you don't mind. I am just as capable of whizzing down the motorway at seventy as the next - I just take note of the conditions I am driving in!!
Thanks for your comments everyone.