I went out running this morning, hoping to dodge predicted rain showers. And then I got caught in a hailstorm! Later the sun tried to come out for a while but since then the weather has been changeable in the extreme. However, it could be worse. The USA seems to have extreme cold all over the place, with ridiculously deep snow in many places. How can somewhere as extensive as the USA have more or less the same weather all over, from the Canadian border to the Mexican border? Crazy weather!
On the other side of the world Japan is also having snow problems, with people dying because they fell from the roof trying to clear snow. Good grief! And clearing snow off roofs as people have died from being buried under snow falling from the roof. It’s serious stuff but I could not help being amused by the closing paragraph:-
“In Niigata, known for rice growing, some makers of mochi – sticky rice cakes that are staple for new year celebration meals – said there were delivery delays and their mochi may not reach customers in time.”
As consequences of extreme weather go, I think a lack of sticky rice cakes might be rather minor.
Thinking of the consequences of weather, how about the theory that almost 8,000 shootings in US cities in recent years were attributable to unseasonably warm temperatures. People get cross when it’s hot and become more aggressive and more likely to shoot people, at least if you live in a country where guns are in regular, common use.
So experts are now recommending making more green and shady spaces in urban areas to keep things cooler. Maybe changing the gun rules might be a good idea too - just an odd idea of mine.
It’s Boxing Day. So I’ve spent some time dealing with leftover chicken from yesterday (we tend to have chicken rather than turkey after some disappointing turkeys over the years) despite having told myself I’ve cooked enough stuff over the last week to merit a day off. But when you have leftover cooked poultry you need to deal with it as soon as possible. So chicken and vegetable soup is bubbling away and a chicken and sausage hotpot is in the oven. More stuff to put away in the freezer later today!
As we approach the end of the Christmas period here’s an article about Cinderella.
It seems that Charles Perrault who wrote the fairytale was the secretary tasked with outfitting Louis XIV’s palaces. “He was the brains behind the operation of putting up the Hall of Mirrors,” said Warwick. The 73-metre-long hall was lavishly furnished by Perrault with 357 mirrors opposite 17 huge arched windows at a time when glass was a highly fashionable, ultra-expensive modern luxury. “He was also the administrator in charge of setting up a royal glassworks for France.”
And patriotism was the order of the day: “Economic patriotism was so extreme at the time that French nobility could be fined at court if they wore fashionable textiles which had not been made in France.” They wanted to make French glass rather than import Venetian glass and even fairy tales reflected this patriotic endeavour. Everyone would know that the glass slipper was a nod to the Versailles glass obsession. Even the name Cinderella (Cendrillon in French) refers to the use of ash in glass production. Goodness! Who knew?
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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