abruzzi spur

As we gain?

Maybe the moon is not in Capricorn after all. Or something.

How sad are you lot, all reading this thread as the new decade starts. And as for those posting here..... shocking. Ah yes, I see your point.

Funny isn't it how things change. I used to crave snow and ice. I was 13 in the winter of 78/79, living in Bristol and it was the perfect spell of winter weather for my age. With hindsight it was probably only a couple of weeks out of the whole winter but when you're young a week is an age. In 87 aged 22 I was in Liverpool which was not deeply cold where we were, moderated by the sea and the Mersey, but there were some great falls of snow. In 1991 living in Wimbledon at the summit of what, in London, passes for high ground, the Common was frigid, the ground hard like iron and I have a photo of me, looking thin then and not just by a trick of the lens, in my flying jacket standing in the middle but on top of a deep frozen pond in the ice leaning hard on the 'danger thin ice' sign. Since then not so many memories that have stuck. 2010 December down here in the Surrey Hills was really snowy and cold. That's the last time I wore my crampons, walking the pavements thick with verglas and people tottering and falling wondering how I was immune as my 12 steel points pierced the carapace of ice and gripped the frozen snow beneath. I've done some winter mountaineering in Scotland, Aonach Eagach ridge, Beinn A'Chorrain north east ridge, winter skills on the Ben. In the Alps autumn mountaineering above Chamonix, proper hard going in landscapes of utter beauty. Roped together, ice axes, crampons on rigid boots, the light from head torches turning the ice blue at 4am and skimming across the narrow openings to crevasses into which you could fall and drag your friends. Here some are though, same as every year (I used to be one), looking for a 'chase' for wintry nirvana that is offered, or at least teased, by a few on this site but rarely if ever delivered. My approach these days is to assume it will be mild most of winter and with rain at levels around or above average. We might get a few days of cooler than average and maybe the odd burst of cold but nothing of any import. I still want to spend some time in air cold enough to hurt my lungs and clear enough at night to see for ever.

Shaping hemi... forms to await as we gain waa takes up tick in clickety clock ricket stoppety clock. Last years a SECOND HAND... flusted bush but now it's Omega/Rolex timing to the spot just need to squeeze Patients

I can see the headlines now.. 'It's the Moon Wot Won It' Lunar, eh? Well it least it sounds close to the correct word

Are you hanging that ghost until it's (truly) dead?

Oh dear. I'll leave it there I think.

Phobias are not nice. But....... First of all spiders are not insects. Secondly, without insects we're in big trouble: Without Bugs, We Might All Be Dead WWW.GOOGLE.CO.UK There are 1.4 billion insects per person on this planet and we need (almost) every one of them. It seems a rather extreme reaction to want insects wiped out and for your preferred means of achieving this to be something on a par with The Day After Tomorrow.

I used to love winter. That's what I say to people now, in my 55th year, whenever the subject comes up. It's still what I say to myself. I don't love winter any more; I wonder if I ever really did. Maybe I've constructed a romantic idea of winter, an ideal form that I've convinced myself was real and actually, looking back, might never have been. There were times when, of course, it was glorious. Living in Bristol there was the winter of 78/79 when snow fell deep and I remember thinking that the frozen pavements were thick with verglas so solid that it would never melt. I had a Saturday job in a fishing tackle shop in the centre and walked in on a Saturday for my daily wage of £5 (hey kids that's about 62.5p an hour) with all the roads snowbound, closed and nothing moving. The owners of the shop lived up in the Mendips and I knew they had no chance of getting in and that the shop wouldn't open but I wanted to say to myself that I'd tried. I never told them that I'd got there, touched the door, turned around and walked home. But those days aside, and walking onto the frozen pond on Wimbledon Common in 1987 and leaning theatrically on the 'Danger Thin Ice' sign, and December 2010 here in the Surrey Hills (bizarrely the last time I've worn my crampons in anger), what's the rest been like? Dark, damp and gloomy. I really dislike the short daylight hours and half light from 3pm. 3pm! For goodness sake. Despite this it only takes a re-read of A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas to get me wavering. As he puts it: 'I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or whether it snowed for twelve days and twelve nights when I was six'. The whole piece is a beautiful read, I really recommend it. I suppose the upshot is that I love the idea of winter, where log fires glow and snow is crisp and deep (I'll forgo the 'even' bit), but really that idea is founded on a few weeks over my lifetime and that's not really a sound basis for love. In the meantime, it's dark too soon and on my 16 mile walk in the Surrey Hills yesterday it was still and grey and shrivelled blackberries were huddled tight on their stems.

Deleted. Not sure my popping back was a good idea. Anyway, cheerio to those from the (very) old days on here.

Thanks Mr Rao.

Pretty rubbish weather today. Max of about 11c, cold north easterly breeze, no sun until about 4pm. Feeble rain shower around 10am. Hope the Met Office contingency planners forecast is close to the reality, above average temps and below average rain for April to June.

Lovely warm day here in the Surrey Hills, almost 20c. Took the crazy spaniel out this morning for a long enough walk in the local woods. Early bluebells, lots of spring growth and notably dry underfoot even in the shaded bits. Anyway, all good warm up preparation for about an hour and 20 of full on squash against someone of 23, 30 years my junior. Ended as you might expect Seems to be that most of the SE is a bit down on rainfall vs average

Hope you have a decent proof reader. Lovely and warm in East Surrey today, a max of 15.3c in Reigate town. Looks warmer as the week progresses.