Chilled

When I left work tonight at 6.45pm the temperature was -10C (+14F). It is like I have moved to a different country!

On leaving the house this morning, the low sunlight, the snow, muted sound and biting cold on my face reminded me only of getting up early in the Alps to be the first on the slopes. Riding through the park, the small hill looked like a well used piste and I found myself thinking "it could do with some fresh snow" (which is as applicable on the bike as on the snowboard it transpires).

On the down side, such low temperatures mean the grit applied to the roads doesn't work so well. Or possibly at all. Nonetheless I stayed upright on my bike all the way home this evening, not least because I avoided roads and took snowy paths wherever possible.

Tonight is threatening to be the coldest night of the winter so far. While I still love the beauty of the scenery at a time when taking down Christmas decorations usually leaves the world looking a much more drab place, I do feel for those who aren't loving it so much: the elderly, the frail, the homeless. And children, many of whom won't have the luxury of leaving heating on overnight as the double whammy of recession and high fuel prices hit parents' pockets.

Even Lucy complained of the cold today when she had to walk a few yards from the car, despite being very well wrapped up.

I'm still going to enjoy the cold weather as best I can, but perhaps I've been a bit selfishly carried away about this winter business up to now.