Yaktrax

It took all my determination not to blip yet another snow scene so beautiful are my surroundings.
After another few inches of the white stuff overnight and with no wind, the branches of the trees are heavily laden, leaving only a tracery of dark bark against the whiteness of the Meadows and the expanse of grey leaden sky.

Then a sudden blizzard of whiteout proportions obscures everything and we gaze out from our warm room and are thankful to be inside.

But just as suddenly, the sun struggles out and everything is illuminated and bathed in a dazzling golden light.
People trudge to and fro along the paths and seem like small stick figures just as Lowry would have painted them.

I was one of those stick people earlier this morning on a mission to the bank and was appalled at the state of inner city roads and pavements.
It's not as if we have had no warning of the weather to expect. But there I was, engulfed in snow and slush right over my boots and on the pavement too, with crossing the road an exercise in walking in the footprints of others.

Whatever the reason for the tardiness in clearing roads, unless you were able to walk to work you were going to be at least an hour late as any buses running were driving past with a full complement of passengers from the outreaches of the city.

Even my social calendar was affected as my friend of many talents and a spanking new bus pass declined my invitation to visit the Dower House because she considered it a possible leg breaking exercise on the untreated pavements.

I, a lady who is already past her biblical sell by date, but equipped with terrain gripping Yaktrax on my shoes, did consider at one point when the sun made a bit of an appearance, walking to visit her.
However no sooner had that notion entered my head, than the sun disappeared and another blizzard made me change my mind.

So from the warmth of the Dower House and on public demand, I blip my Yaktrax antislip traction devices which I hope will enable me to do as it says on the box-
'To walk more confidently on Packed Snow and Ice'.

They can be bought for the princely sum of £15.00 from Tiso's outdoor shop. An acceptable price to pay for avoiding an undignified and possibly limb threatening tumble.