Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

We have been very lucky in my part of Southern England recently and missed out on the snow, that is until Thursday. We woke up to find everything covered in a white blanket. It looked just like a Christmas card and was a complete surprise. It continued to snow quite heavily during the day. We apparently have our own micro-climate in Bournemouth, due to the proximity of the Isle of Wight. It is very rare for us to get snow here, at least snow that settles on the ground.

I was unable to get to work as I rely on public transport a lot of the time and lifts to work from a kind friend. She was unable to get her car out of her drive and I did not think that I could cope with the long walk. It would normally take me nearly an hour to walk to work in normal weather conditions so I dread to think how long it would take me in deep snow. Two of my friends who live nearby put me to shame by making the effort to walk. I know it sounds really feeble but I have problems with my left leg at the moment so like many others I worked from home. I am glad that I did as a bit later in the day the decision was made to close the University. I am fairly new to the wonders of broadband Internet access but it was great to be able to read my emails, work on a presentation and also help by staffing our online Chat service, all from the warmth of my living room. All due to the wonders of technology.

This is the scene that greeted us when we woke up.

After several hours of steady snow fall this was the view from my kitchen window.

The poem 'London Snow' by Robert Bridges sums it up completely -

'When men were all asleep the snow came flying,
In large white flakes falling on the city brown,
Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,
Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;
Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;
Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:
Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;
Hiding difference, making unevenness even,
Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.
All night it fell, and when full inches seven
It lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness,
The clouds blew off from a high and frosty heaven;
And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed brightness
Of the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly glare:
The eye marvelled - marvelled at the dazzling whiteness;
The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn air;
No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling,
And the busy morning cries came thin and spare...'

I first read this at school and growing up in the far South West of England, kept warm by the Gulf Stream, I had never experienced heavy snow, and it was very hard to imagine. Looking out at the scene on Thursday morning I was reminded of his vivid description. When I went out to take these pictures the normally busy road was eerily silent

And finally a picture of a gorgeous cake that my OH made for my Birthday (the strange round things on the top are Maltezers). Another reason to cheer up and forget about the winter weather. As one of my friends says 'There is never a bad time to eat cake!'