Creaking on

The bright day didn’t last. By the evening the rain had returned. We watched the news on the tele last night. We saw the dreadful flooding across so much of Lancashire & Yorkshire & were grateful indeed that we only have the wet patch just inside the back door, & that of fairly clean water. Our hearts go out to those who have been flooded.

Indeed the news seemed to be just about unusual bad weather with tornados sweeping through the States, white outs in New Mexico & Texas, even worse flooding in much of South America, forest fires in the dryness of Australia, winds blowing umbrellas across the test cricket pitch in South Africa.

I find myself wondering how other parts of Europe have fared. I can’t believe we’re the only country nearby that has been so badly hit by all these storms. Meanwhile it continues to rain. We continue to hold our breath & hope.

As I write it is just after 9am, yet it is so dark I almost need to put the lights on. I suspect the Fox would have to. Such darkness only means one thing – more rain to fall on already saturated ground.

Despite all of this gloom, I had cause to ponder on the nature of happiness yesterday. I’m forced to admit it lies in being with the Fox as far as I am concerned. These days, as we grow older & more rickety, I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that we’re a pair of flying buttresses. We keep standing just because we lean against one another, stopping the other from falling down. Together we are strong, apart weak. We’ll creak on for a while yet.