Monthly Archives: December, 2012
Blow the Cobwebs Away
I’m feeling the need for a post-Christmas walk. Traditionally, my family head out for a long walk on Boxing Day or the day after “to blow the cobwebs away” (a lovely fairy-tale of a metaphor which suggests that, like Sleeping Beauty, we have inadvertently been colonised by arachnids whilst hibernating). After a few days of …
‘Twas The Night Before Christmas… In The Desert
For all those who are far from home this Christmas, with heart-felt thanks and sincere apologies to the original festive poet, Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the flat Not a creature was stirring (except for the cat). Two stockings were sitting beside a small tree, And …
It’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas…
I am feeling VERY Christmassy. To be honest with you, I have been restraining myself from writing a festive piece for the last few weeks. I can generally hold it in until at least the sixteenth or so of December, but I really have been feeling ridiculously Christmassy for some time now and I think …
Rain Dance
It has rained. Last weekend the skies were grey and overcast and I awoke to the nostalgic splash of vehicles ploughing through puddles outside. This is a desert after all; rain is a truly newsworthy event. We have between just two and five rainy days a year here: a rough average of 110 millimetres of …