It may not be officially Winter, but we’re certainly feeling the chill, here in Glasgow. Since we were here for this last year, we were expecting it (although we can’t really say that we’re glad to see it arrive). One thing we didn’t expect from this time of year, though, was to find beauty.
Last year, it was a lot harder to find. It’s hard not to feel like everything is out to get you, when you’re in a new place, in the dark, confused, and get lost so easily. We took the weather personally, took the chuckles of the Glaswegians personally, took it all personally, and felt utterly defeated and depressed and, okay, furious a lot of the time. We didn’t look up as much as we should have, and missed things. “May you live all the days of your life,” says a quote on a magnet we got as a gift last year (quoted by 18th century writer Jonathan Swift). This winter especially, we hope to do just that.
D. has been put on a strict diet of … “pretty” things, in his photography. T. decided that he’s been taking too many pictures of the uglier side of Glasgow, so he’s making an attempt to find beauty amongst the abandoned furniture, muck, and general filth of this place.
He succeeded, though, in finding this spectacular view of the mountains to the North of Glasgow. Doesn’t it look like something straight out of Bavaria or something? It certainly doesn’t resemble anything we’d come to expect from our neighborhood.
Interesting what looking up can do for you.
Tuesday is the day! This weekend we’re clearing out the entry way, removing any and all personal items, mirrors, umbrella stands, etc., so that the tromping workmen can go in and out and bring in freezing air and mud with impunity. The wall is FINALLY at long last going to be ripped out and the pipes removed and replaced. We’re going to retire to the lofts to work and live and to the kitchen for occasional forays, and other than that, the furniture will be shifted, the pictures will be down and the house will be tarped. We hope to give the workmen everything they need to do this eight hour job, which, for some reason, will still take them three full days — but forget that. We’re going to be very, very, VERY accommodating in the hopes that they will FINALLY FINISH THIS.
We’ve only been without hot water or heat since October 15th…
– D & T
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
What a perfect early Christmas gift–hot water! And I had no idea there was snow in the mountains outside of Glasgow; so gorgeous! I’m kinda jealous of your wintry world, actually…
Lovely photos as usual. Good luck with the workmen.
Paz
I feel like a wet blanket here: when I looked up in our house, all I could see was cobwebs and dust motes. Still, I appreciate the idea, and good for you.
Wish I could read your post to a couple of people I work with. I’m sitting here in a tee-shirt and sandals, but these guys have their heating on full blast and they’re all wearing thick sweaters. They claim your blood thins out here — I’m praying ours doesn’t. We can’t afford the electric bill…
I’m amazed you’ve lasted this long without heat. Oh well – just think of all the money you’ve saved in gas and electricity!
I honestly don’t know how you’re surviving without hot water. May the workmen be swift and efficient so that both of you can focus on your writings.
Jes: we’d enjoy the wintry world a wee bit more, I think, if we had a car. Not having one means that we get to take mass transit … which kind of discourages venturing all the way out to the mountains. There will be train journeys, though, at some point.
Paz: thanks! We’ve met them, and they’re nice blokes. We wish they were perhaps a wee bit faster … but at least we’ll be OK with them being in the house for 3 days.
Mary: hah! Yes, we’re going to suffer when we get back to California, that’s for certain. We’re not adjusted to the cold, here, quite … but we’re certainly more used to it than we are to the heat!
Katie: we have heat, it’s just in the form of a wee space heater and the electric oven. So … we’re spending a veritable fortune on electricity.
Divatobe: we have an electric shower, which heats the water from cold on demand, so we do have hot water with which to bathe.
I had no idea there were even hills that tall near Glasgow! Beautiful photo. Best of luck on the construction!
That top picture is probably my favorite on the site so far. Glad you’re finally getting your hot water back! And we appreciate the thoughts on not taking it all personally. Humour notwithstanding, there’s a lot to get used to!
Again with the beauty–it’s brilliant.
If you guys can look up and find it where you are so cold (and yes, I say you are finding beauty), then I can slow down a minute to try and find some in this place I really have no desire to be any longer.
Thanks for the inspiration!
: )
Wow. Those are stunning photos. Never knew Glasgow to look so dramatic.
I think, technically, these are the Campsie Hills … so, while Glasgow has the high-rises in the foreground, the background is well outside. 😉