Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Snow everywhere again today. The freezing conditions last night made sure that yesterday's fall of snow didn't disappear this morning. Nobody was particularly excited at the prospect of getting up early and going to church but as I was this mornings intercessor, I needed to get up and get to church early. There was no prospect of driving to church today so I set off on the one mile walk to church in the frozen snow leaving home at 8.50 a.m. and arriving at 9.20 a.m. Nils took the service this morning and it was well attended despite the appalling weather and the coldness of the church building. I used the opportunity to give out as many local Christmas cards as possible and on the way home called in at the Maces and Dawn - whom I helped clear her car of ice and snow. This afternoon we all joined Klynn on a long 4-mile walk around Bentley Wood with Otis, their setter dog. Sara hated it - she doesn't like walking and doesn't like the cold so a long walk in the cold snow is not her idea of recreation. I. on the other hand, love it and would happily have walked some more. All the walking today earned me a lot of points and so Klynn and I agreed to meet in the Lion's Head with Commander Chris who is on leave from the Chagos Islands. We had a few pints in the small bar as the main bar was full of people attending the pub draw. It was good to see Chris and catch up on old times. He spent a lot of time down in the South Atlantic and so I tapped him for information as to how I could get to Antarctica for a holiday. This cold weather is certainly good acclimatisation for it!