SNOW!

We've got snow! Maybe I never grew up, but I still get excited about snow. I admit I did a lot of work today and didn't go out to play in it, but if we have more I have to go and build a snowman because my god-daughter in the snowless south wants me to send her a picture of it. Sensible girl. Advent calendars, candles, the lassie coming in with her Christmas shopping, Prokofiev's sleigh ride, snow. It was my piano lesson today, so all we did was carols. (Oh, andRudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, which is dire but funny.)

If that combination of snow, music, etc, doesn't feel as sparkly as it did when you were a child, it doesn't mean that the sparkle isn't there. You just have to recognise it. Children are better at doing that than grown ups. Look at snow as if you'e never seen it before.

That's what happened when my elder son brought a friend home for Christmas a few years ago. Friend - and what a nice lad he was! - was from snowless India and couldn't get home for Christmas. While he was with us, it snowed, not very much, but enough to send him running to the door like a five year old. Between courses at Sunday lunch he was outside with his mobile phone, taking photos and sending them home to his mum. After lunch we all went for a walk in the snow which isn't necessarily a good idea when you live halfway up a very steep hill, but what might otherwise be a slither and a trudge and a grumble was the most amazing, happy, hilarious treat when shared with an excited Indian student. No bones were broken.

Sadly, there wasn't enough to go sledging. He would have loved it. But he now lives in the North-east of England, so he may soon have his chance. I

The sledge is still in the cellar. Did I mention the hills round here?
More snow is forecast. Think of me zooming down the garden, crashing through the fence and throwing bread to the ducks as I hit the river.