Not here of course, but in the UK! We spent a glorious couple of weeks in the cottage in Broad Town over Christmas and the New Year and we were amazed to discover that the snow had descended just 24 hours before we landed at Heathrow. The M4 was clear though and at that time the snow stopped at Reading - a lot like the trains!
Our first morning dawned clear and crisp and we drove over to Cheltenham through the beautiful country roads, surrounded on either side by a frozen landscape. Trees covered in that wonderful hoare frost and with the sun shining on them it was truly a magical land - just like Narnia! We were pleased to be home. Britain is a beautiful place and has all the plus sides of being familiar in a heartbeat. We know what to do and where to go - life in short is easy. We spent our time with friends and family - sadly we did not spend ENOUGH time with either but we will be back again in the spring to celebrate Jemma's wedding to Ben - a truly surprising announcement made on Christmas Day and the arrival of Ruby, Sian and Andrew's first baby (Dave's second grandchild) who will, no doubt, arrive with a Liverpool scarf around her neck!
We escaped from the UK with just hours to spare. We left at 1pm and the snow began to fall at 4pm. We arrived back to Tokyo with temperatures at 10C and the sun shining brightly. It was good to be back in the land of the rising sun. It too felt familiar and easy to be here.
Stories of being snowed in abounded on CNN and BBC World and we were genuinely concerned for all those left behind. Some councils doing a magnificent job whilst others were creating more chaos by salting and gritting in all the wrong places. To add insult to injury, they are running out of salt and grit so that too will cause mayhem. Anyway - photos and emails from our friends have shown us that they have (mostly) loved it. The enforced stopping of life, the necessary break from routine and the marvellous and creative snowmen that have been produced by those of you old enough to know better!
A few days ago we saw the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti. We too live in an earthquake zone and we are waiting for The Big One. We had a small wobble on Sunday and before that it was in mid December. It is amazing how blase one becomes to these. As one menopausal friend said the other day - you are never sure if it really is a quake or if your hormones are playing up! Probably the best way to look at it.
'Be prepared but not obsessed' we have been told. Prepared we are. I have just ordered and received an Emergency Pack from the US. Not only was I amazed at the speed of its arrival from LA (three days if you please - Royal Mail eat your heart out!) but also what can be put into these backpacks. The whole thing is designed to keep you motivated for about 36 hours - some of the wonderful things in it are a radio (plus batteries of course), waterproof stuff, medical basics, pack of cards - it even contains a tent for goodness sake! The next dilemma is, do we take out the tent and practise assembing it then fail to get it back in the backpack or do we wait til disaster strikes and tempers are short anyway before attempting it? Any advice?
So winter survival in all its guises. Not long til Spring is here in Tokyo - I think it starts tomorrow!
