Venturing out

[shewhomust]

We didn't try to go anywhere over the weekend: we'd laid in supplies at the Farmers' Market on Thursday, we had warmth and internets, the milk and the newspaper were delivered to our door (and the recycling collected from it, which was a surprise). So why go out in the cold and wet and blowy snow? durham_rambler went out from time to time to clear the pavement in front of the house, and always seemed ready to come in again. But by yesterday (Monday) morning, even I was beginning to feel a bit shut in - and besides, there were things we wanted to do.

First was the swimming pool: not our default first-thing-in-the-morning visit but mid-afternoon, leaving home just before nightfall. The trick here is to get in between the school groups ending and the after-school classes starting, and we just about managed it, though the showers were filling with small people as we left. Swimming was more effort than it should have been, perhaps because I'd missed a week (combination of snow and stiff neck proving a deterrent); and the neck is not as fully cured as I'd thought, not painful but I was aware of it.

Then we hurled our swimming things in the back of the car with the spade and the broom which we'd brought along in case of emergency, and set off for Newcastle: not a pleasant drive, but since we had already driven down the hill from our front door to the main road, the worst was already behind us. The motorway was open and traffic was moving cautiously along it: not using all three lanes, admittedly, but there wasn't enough traffic to make this a problem. The snow covered the car park at Northumbria University thickly enough that it was a puzzle where the marked spaces were, but we found one, and arrived at about the same time as Bryan and Mary Talbot for Bryan's lecture on Grandville and the Anthropomorphic Tradition.

I have heard Bryan's talk on this subject before, but it's interesting enough to hear again, and anyway it grows and changes, gathering in new material as Bryan comes across it. So that was fine. It was a good audience: a sprinkling of university officials and civic dignitaries (mayors of both Newcastle and Gateshead), who seemed to be enjoying themselves, and plenty of intelligent questions afterwards. A few familiar faces, though not as many as there might have been if it hadn't been for the snow (best explanation for absence: "Sorry, can't make it, I've got to get a pony out of a pond.").

There was a buffet after, and a chance to talk to Bryan and Mary - mostly about their joint work, Dotter of Her Father's Eyes, and about the mad schedule of press interest provoked by winning the Costa biography prize, and the sort of questions interviewers ask; but also about some of the material in Bryan's lecture, and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, and Angoulême, and absent friends... Then we drove Bryan and Mary back to Sunderland, where it was just beginning to snow seriously, and home.

The excursion wasn't without its tricky moments, but no disasters or even near, and it was well worth it - I had a great time. So this morning, when the sun was shining on the thick soft snow, I felt quite optimistic for a moment. Then the sky darkened, and the snow began to fall again.

Comments

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

I still admire that you and R keep up the swimming even in this difficult weather. Your resolve is inspiring.

As for much snow in Durham, should you decide to venture out with a camera, I'd love to see the sights through your lens. ;-)

(and I have one word to combat the cold: Smaragadine!)

[edited for spelling 'Smaragadine'. Yes, I looked it up.]