Life, Work, The Universe...... The Snow of Ages

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With Heather home safe, the trains messed up, lorries jack-knifed on the A90, and we took the day off. Despite clearing the Landy in the early hours of the morning - just in case immediate dust-off was required and I had to go rescue the taxi party - I had to clear snow from my windscreen again, with a shovel!

This is the Dropship valley looking NorthNorthEast. We live just off camera to the right of the trees in the middle foreground. To the left you see the gateway to the glens.

The photo was taken in the lee of a Roman camp. I always go a bit Fall of the Roman Empire when the countryside looks like this.

A slight turn to the east and we have the lair of the Ice Giant. These hills tell of an ancient land and have 'faces' as distinctive to me as any on Mount Rushmore. High Kings lived and died beneath their peaks eg Kenneth II. They really impress upon you how ancient this land is and conjur tales of Black Douglas, Beowulf and Grendel.

An hour later, we are across the valley and in the shadow of the hills in the top photo, looking East(ish). The geography is unsurprisingly glacial. Geology shows that the great glacier came down the North Sea and turned SW to carve out the valley. Our village is in the middle foreground and behind those hills, a bare 10 minutes as the crow flies, is the sea.

By Friday there were no trains at all. I dug out my elderly neighbours and helped others clear snow to allow them to get to work or pick up their 'messages'. The local Council have been doing a great job even though it's an impossible task with snow falling every half hour or so.

If I was to go out and take photos today, all you would see is a blanket of white - the last vestiges of green have all but disappeared from the land. But I'm staying indoors to 5S my study and just catch up with myself.

Cheers

Mark

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