Winter Solstice Sentinel - Moonrise

Winter Solstice Sentinel - Moonrise, originally uploaded by escher (hibernating)....

Here's the past week condensed. Just add water (preferably ice), leave to stand for a minute, stir and serve.

So the cold snap continues, although it is due to end in the next 24 hours and it has allowed me to do more with ice than I have before.

Apart from last year, the last ten winters have been mild with only a couple of cold ones in the previous twenty. Before that we supposedly had proper winters, those that we like to trot out whenever someone, who wasn't old enough to remember them, comments on how cold it is. "Cold? This isn't cold lad, I remember when winters were winters, and we only had one pair of shoes between the whole street. We had to break the ice in the loo when we needed the toilet. Etc etc etc."

Well, that deal is off. This winter is a proper one and seems to be breaking records all over this country and elsewhere too.

How I remember those winters, though, may not be entirely accurate. I remember the snow being deeper than we get now. And I remember the snow being around for months with no gaps. But then again I remember Christmas day taking 9 months, like a full gestation period of extreme tension to arrive, after breaking up from school for the holidays. And I guess the snow was deeper then as my wellies were only half the height of what I have today. It's the same with the mystery of the ever decreasing Wagon Wheel. Have they really got smaller? Or did they seem bigger thirty years ago because my head was smaller?