Entomology, chemical ecology, evidence-based environmentalism and science in general. I like big bugs and I cannot lie.

Monday 2 February 2009

Blurring the boundaries

As you’ve probably noticed by now, depending on your perspective London is either experiencing an Arctic blizzard (born south of Wolverhampton) or a bit of a nip in the air (born north of Wolverhampton). As a kid when I woke up to discover it was snowing I used to think “Wow, sledging, snowballs and a day off school”!As an adult I woke up thinking, “Bugger, I’m bloody freezing and it’ll be a nightmare getting into Rothamsted, and did I mention that I’m bloody freezing?”.

It isn’t just the way snow covers all the ugliness, the litter, dog mess and broken pavements, but the way it blurs boundaries and not just those between the pavement and the road (the lack of a visible curb has sent me sprawling once today already, and I doubt it’ll be the last time).The public transport meltdown has allowed the weekend to weekend to bleed into the week,but more importantly the snow has broken down some of the boundaries between people; everyone’s off work and everyone’s on foot, and willing to share a smile, a “Good morning” or even an impulsive snowball fight with a stranger.I can’t help feeling that Britain is a warmer place in the snow.

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