Probably Even Glaswegians Are Wearing Sweaters…

Let us take a moment and be exactly like most people we meet, and talk endlessly about the weather:

Reports of a hurricane have been greatly exaggerated. Or, mostly exaggerated. The bit where there were Category 5 winds was real enough. The bit where it would knock you off of your feet if you went around corners incautiously was a bit too real. The part where it was 85 mph in our neighborhood alone was viciously real. But the Met Office won’t agree that it was a hurricane, despite the whole spinning clouds on the Doppler thing. Oh, well. Twittering Scots have deemed it a hurricane, and have given it a cheerfully derogatory name (which, since this is a family blog, and you have Google at your house, too, we won’t repeat), showing that they are cooler than any Category 5 storm. “Nature, bring it on!!!” is the general attitude. (Of course, those were not the actual words. We believe they were something like, “Come ahead, ya dobber!” You get the idea.)

We still can’t find our recycle bin. We found the lid, but the rest is blooown away somewhere…

Hard to believe, that within the same week as the wind, we had our first snow – and it had stuck around unpleasantly. There was ice everywhere, we got out our insulated boots and snow-cleats, and were hoping not to have a repeat of Snowpocalypse 2010. It was as blessing it was washed away by the rain before the wind came…

Today, the snow is back. It’s the picturesque kind – heavy and soggy, but good for photographs, and we’ll have some soon. We expect that the rain will return shortly and wash it away, but for now, we’re truly in a marshmallow world…

The sheep are back! The farmer apparently rotates the flock repeatedly, and we’re glad to see them again, as we enjoy watching their mild antics from the kitchen table and from the office. They’re quite peaceful, and fit in with our plans for Christmas: lounging about, eating a lot, and standing still… with no choir, no work, and no obligations to do anything constructive. Well, for D., anyway. He plans to catch up on some knitting (D. has a scarf he’s been knitting now for 2 whole years, although he’s only worked on it when he’s been in lectures), but T. has a monster pile of reading to finish for the Cybils (altogether 171 books. she’s halfway through), by the end of the month, plus she’s hoping for the positive conclusion of a Super Seekrit Project which is turning out to be a lot more work and aggravation than she expected. Finally, she hopes to finish one last book before New Year’s Eve, but that might just be hubris at this point.

One last push – our big, shiny Christmas Cracker Concert next weekend – and a few more days of breakneck work finishing projects, and then we’ll have earned our rest. We look forward to overnight visits from city friends and lots of baking, movie-watching, and general laziness. If we can’t be home in the States, we’ll at least have a good time with friends.

BIG NEWS: D. has finally AT LONG LAST been given a date for his viva voce exam: January 12th. Prayers ascending, candles lit, fingers crossed, and wood knocked upon that day, if you please. Post-exam we’ll know more about the immediate future, as after the grueling day they will inform him how much more work he has to do on the Big Paper before they let him go. After that, well. The serious feelers go out. Already D. is speaking to people about visas, and together we’re doing a bit of thinking about where we want to be. It’s actually difficult to think of, since we’ve been in Scotland for the past four years. When one takes the time to contemplate what one wants out of a community, where we’re going to make a serious effort to put down roots, suddenly the decision is a little harder…

We’ll keep on thinking, and see what turns up. Sometimes, when the weather is nasty (and the indoor temperature falls to 12°C/59°), or when it’s really dark (we’re down to 7 hours of “daylight” now), we think that D. ought to find a job someplace warm and sunny. In the Bahamas. Other times, though, we remember what we enjoy about life here – the rare clear, crisp days, the slower pace of the semi-rural environment, our weekly trip in to friends and civilization in Glasgow — and it’s difficult to think of leaving.

Well, we’ll keep you posted. Stay warm and dry and enjoy your weekend!

-D & T