White Christmas

Nothing like an old 10-10-20 fertilizer bag for a snow sled nipping down a modest enough slope so long as there's no nettles, barbed wire, stone walls, ditches or whatever to be flying into - its not nearly as much fun in a car, especially backwards, or worse sideways, nothing like apologising to a passenger before the accident as the Corolla launches into a 2mph death slide, helplessly inching toward the ditch, "this is the last time I tolerate anyone saying, 'Oh it'd be great if there'd be a bit of snow for Christmas'... Every so sorry about this' Thud! You do feel a great sense of community though, people pushing you out the church car park, throwing dirt under your wheels because they were smart enough to bring a shovel in this weather, getting into your car to 'have a go' at the hill themselves.

Little town pubs won't have done well right when they needed it the most with actual culchies stranded out the regional roads, townies just aren't enough in little towns, this holy soul hasn't had a pint since leaving Dublin a week-and-a-half ago. And what of Dublin's annual New Years exodus to Lahinch, Dingle and others, are the Dubs brave enough, inevitably naive enough, so probably a non-issue.

Isn't that two extreme weather events on the hop? 100-year-event flooding! Big freeze at Christmas! Somebody call Al Gore, there's surely graphs worth showing from Ireland. I know it went to -10 here, -19's the record at Markree Castle in Sligo in 1881, if it gets much colder might that be two 100-year-events on the hop? Who knows! People are suffering of course, and whenever that happens its invariably some form of comfort for them to have someone to blame, but sure who can you blame for the weather? Gas-guzzling America? We-wanna-be-a-super-power-too China? Developers building on flood plains? Gritters not getting salt to every road? If life was a Dennis Quaid film would it be Flight of the Phoenix, when faced with crisis you build a new plane out of the old plane, or would it be the Day After Tomorrow, which happens to be New Years Day and sure nothing changes on New Years Day.

Ice Station Sambo, over and out...