Stormy Weather

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes, hate it, just hate it. "5 months of this" I think, it's like entering a tunnel. Why can't Scotland run off and be truly independent, have their own time zone and let us have lighter evenings? An hour or two difference either side of the border? Ha, it might be crazy but it might be fun! I recall a line of Ted Hughes, about November I think "And the worst cold's to come". Getting dark at 5 and ever earlier till the solstice...
almost unbearable.

Does anyone else really dislike the long dark evenings as I do? They've come so quickly this year it seems. Must stock up on light bulbs, tinned food etc. I'm a daylight person definitely and need all the light I can get.

[Petrushka]

Does anyone else really dislike the long dark evenings as I do? They've come so quickly this year it seems. Must stock up on light bulbs, tinned food etc. I'm a daylight person definitely and need all the light I can get.

I loathe this time of year, made particularly dismal by the trudge back and forth to work in the dark.

This gets trotted out every year: http://allpoetry.com/poem/8472903-No_-by-Thomas_Hood

I like this one though: http://www.poemtree.com/poems/November.htm

[doversoul1]

salymap
At least once it has started, we can wait for the end rather than waiting it to happen...

Marthe
You posted asking for suggestions for music to play at your father’s funeral. What did you decide to play?

[Nick Armstrong]

Caliban, It's been a mad scramble to pull all the right clothes (boots, mittens, scarves, wooly hats etc) out of storage...and the snow shovel from the back of the garage. Though it's raining now, we'll be seeing a few snowflakes flying around tomorrow morning when I trudge off to work. Thanks for the 'timely' reminder about the clock change.

Scary news footage from your part of the world, marthe ! More than a 'few snowflakes' if the coverage on TV is to be believed. Hope you and relatives of others here are spared the worst....

White Hallowe'en... ! Never known that before, I'll be bound !

[marthe]

Caliban, we were spared the worst and only got wind and rain. We didn't lose power or have large trees fall on the house or car. Tonight the temps will probably dip below freezing. Two of my sisters braved the worst of the storm yesterday to drive up to RI for a memorial service. Traffic on Rte. I-95 through Connecticut was going at a snail's pace. The 3.5 hour drive from Westchester, north of NYC, took 5.5 hours through wind-driven snow and sleet. A White Halloween...there's more than frost on those pumpkins!

[marthe]

salymap
At least once it has started, we can wait for the end rather than waiting it to happen...

Marthe
You posted asking for suggestions for music to play at your father’s funeral. What did you decide to play?

Doversoul, what a good memory you have! How kind of you to remember from a year ago. Dad's funeral, last November, was an RC requiem mass at a nearby Benedictine Abbey. We had music of Bach, including selections from the cello suites which were played by my sister and nephew; also two hymns in Latin, In Paradisum and Salve Regina. Though the mass was celebrated in English, we had readings in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek. The Abbot, a longtime friend of Dad's, did the Latin and Hebrew readings; My niece read John 1 "in the beginning was the word..." in Greek. Dad shared his love of music and language with all of us throughout his life. This was one of his great gifts to us. We remembered him today at a memorial service. He was my first, and best, teacher.

[salymap]

Marthe, what a wonderful post about your father. You owed him a lot and were grateful.

Very murky here but a little worried about Caspar and Liz in Connecticut. I've emailed but no reply yet. They have three children under seven so keeping them warm and happy must be a full-time job. Hope all is well in RI too.

[amateur51]

Does anyone else really dislike the long dark evenings as I do? They've come so quickly this year it seems. Must stock up on light bulbs, tinned food etc. I'm a daylight person definitely and need all the light I can get.

As I get older, I find that I resent the shortening day length more and more, salymap - even to the point of a mild form of depression.

Mind you in Spring I'm all over the place with joy unconfined!

[Anna]

I find the changes to the clock resulting in earlier darker evenings affect me. When it changes I have lamps on the windowsills on automatic timers which act like a homing beacon because there is nothing so dismal, or more depressing that to let yourself into a dark home. I like the Winter as in cold and bright, spiderwebs covered in diamonds, sharp frosts but when, as today, it's grey, drizzle, dull, mist and mud - that's horrible.

[Serial_Apologist]

I find the changes to the clock resulting in earlier darker evenings affect me. When it changes I have lamps on the windowsills on automatic timers which act like a homing beacon because there is nothing so dismal, or more depressing that to let yourself into a dark home. I like the Winter as in cold and bright, spiderwebs covered in diamonds, sharp frosts but when, as today, it's grey, drizzle, dull, mist and mud - that's horrible.

Indeed, Anna. Just now, misjudging how quickly it gets dark in the immediate wake of the time changeover, I got caught out on my bike without lights and fluorescent jacket. For safety's sake (if nothing else!) I decided to walk the last mile home.

[eighthobstruction]

EEEE it's reet wam up here....no rain for weeks, everything crisp [well not everything]. The change of timing has made dog walkers issue forth in multitudes as dusk gets dimsy....vertible plethora of dogs intermingling....[one might say plethora herds of dogs]....[well, one might]....

[Serial_Apologist]

Greetings, eighthobs!

Dogs have a nasty habit of getting vertible with me - especially in the presence of people of, shall we say? precious disposition. "Down boy!"

[marthe]

Though I'm not fond of the dull days or the drawing in of the days, I do like the subtle beauty of late autumn after the leaves have fallen. I actually enjoy putting the garden to bed for the winter. Getting everything cleaned up, cut back, mulched, covered (figs). Newport is much quieter in November when all the cruise ships leave, tourists go home, and before all the Christmas in Newport hoopla starts on December 1. Nothing against visitors because they keep our economy going, but it's nice to reclaim the city, be able to find parking, or walk down the street without bumping into crowds.

I agree with Anna about too much "grey, drizzle, dull mist and mud". It's truly horrible. Too much of it can bring on the "blues".

Saly, any word from your family in Connecticut? I hope they've got their power and heat back.

[doversoul1]

marthe
Thank you for the wonderful description of your father’s funeral (not sure if ‘wonderful’ is an appropriate word…). I hope the weather didn’t get in the way of your family gathering for the memorial service.

It’s still absurdly mild here in Kent. I should be doing autumn tidying (I too ‘enjoy’ it in an odd way) but the begonias and geraniums are still trying to flower. Still, I’d better get on with in cast the weather suddenly changes. Last year, it snowed before the trees lost their leaves. It was most peculiar to see bright autumn leaves scattered on the snow.

[Stillhomewardbound]

Some time ago, a number of us were in conversation about the Rotherhithe Tunnel. Salymap and SA possibly.

Anyway, on Sunday I was led by curiosity to cycle through it. I had heard tales of it being very noxious and not very pleasant.

Actually, it was not an uncomfortable experince. It's a pretty narrow and cosy affair carryng just a two lane carriageway with a high ceiling.

As there's a 20mph speed limit I wasn't too intimidated by the vehicular traffic, however it turned out to be much longer than I expected. It's a little under a mile but it felt more than that. Further more, going South to North there's a long climb out of it, so by the time I emerged out into Limehouse it felt as I'd been tunnelled for a long time.

Always nice to to discover a new shaft though, Matron!

ADDDED FACT:

Close by are the Surrey Docks where sections of the Mulberry Dock (so essential to the Allied invasion) were constructed. The area was also the first to be bombed at the start of the Blitz.