The Tempest

We've been in the midst of a tempest for the last 24 hours and more, or so I'm told by my dog walking chums.

This is sods law in action as the boy and I spent the week-end collecting dead and fallen wood from the woods and orchard. We built a huge bonfire with it, which we intended to use as the base for burning a large amount of green wood we've pruned from over grown shrubs and a couple of trees. Now of course the bonfire will be too wet to light.

It is in fact double sods law,as tomorrow is my late wifes aniversary and I always go up to a small mountain village and light a candle in her memory in the chapel there. All this rain has probably fallen as snow and I won't be able to make it through the snow to get there.

I have a real whimpish phobia about driving in snow. Many years ago, at easter, I was driving a car load up to a beauty spot called Troumouse when we hit a patch of snow. The car, without snow chains, was stuck in the snow and every time I tried to go forward it slid sideways and every time I tried to reverse it slid in the same direction. Looking out and down I could see the Auberge where we had eaten lunch, it was about the size of my thumb nail !

The 3 passengers with me had jumped out directly the problem arose, leaving me to my fate ! After a while they sheepishly emerged from the trees on the other side of the road where they had been hiding. They got me out of the predicament by pushing the car downhill into a snow bank on a hairpin bend, from where I was able to turn and drive down to a nearby parking area.

The ensuing fag was the best one I have ever tasted