Wind and rain. Crazy people with guns. Selfish people benefitting from the misfortunes of others. And snow.

 We’re back to dull and damp again today. It was mildly drizzly when I went out first thing but later when I took my recycling out to the relevant bins it was properly raining. Our daughter has reported from a social event in nearby Moorside where she tells me it is “chucking it down and blowing a hooley” - whatever that last expression really means. Moorside is, however, one of the highest spots in the town and if the weather is going to be bad it will be much worse up there! 

It’s a good job I know some nice people, for if I relied on news reports I could be convinced that the world is a truly wicked place. They’ve had a shooting at a Hanukah party Bondi beach in New South Wales, Australia, and on the other side of the world at Brown University, Rhode Island, USA, a gunman went and shot students taking their exams. 

Two students at Brown University had already witnessed or indeed been victims at school shootings in the past. One of them, Zoe Weissman, 20,  expressed her anger: “What I’ve been feeling most is just, like, how dare this country allow this to happen to someone like me twice?”

Maybe her country should have done something to prevent this sort of thing long ago. 

It’s quite likely though that the gun manufacturers are quite happy to continue with the status quo, making money out of others’ misfortunes. That seems to be happening with the planned reconstruction of Gaza. Here’s a link to an article about US contractors bidding for the right to rebuild. Imagine putting in a bid for building work in a place on the other side of the world!  And while shelling and shooting continue to take place, it’s hard to imagine reconstruction work taking place at all, even in the places where Israel will allow it happen.

Here’s a photo of Saddleworth in the winter of 1947. I have heard people talk about that winter, almost mythical now, not just here but in other parts of the country. 

That winter was before our time but when we first came to live in Saddleworth in the mid 1970s we had heavy snowfall such as rarely happens nowadays - not quite 1947 levels though. We were snowed in, unable to get the car out of its garage and the snow lay on the ground for days. Now, even when we have heavy snowfall,  it doesn’t hang around, usually disappearing almost overnight. Climate change, no doubt!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!