Thursday, February 08, 2007

Working From Home!

So the Snow arrived! Well done the weather forecasters. Both little BW’s had to stay home because their schools were closed. Much joy and celebration! I decided to work at home! During my lunch break (which I took early at ten o’clock) I took the youngest BW sledging. There was a little bit of protest when I indicated that we were going to walk.

“But its miles dad.” (About a mile actually!) “Why can’t we drive?” I pointed out that is was snowing. Reluctantly he agreed.

The sledging was great fun. The slopes below Solomon’s Temple were steep and slippery, if a little bit bumpy. I lost control a few times and ended up on my back or head first in a drift.

The Woods (Grin low woods) always look better during snow. I was thinking about my favourite poem, Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and trying to remember it. I got most of it! But the youngest BW had a point. I did not need to recite it out loud over and over again as I tried to see if I could jog my failing memory. Apparently I drew attention to myself. This caused him to put some distance between himself and me for a while.

As we were walking back down, (I walking, young BW sledging perilously close to innocent walkers) I noticed that there was a young woman up ahead with a rather smart video camera taking pictures of the group in front. I hung back. Not so young BW, he sledged straight past them and into camera shot. I noticed that the young woman rather than stop filming, followed him with her video camera. He came to a halt at her feet and she began to chat to him, still pointing the camera at him. I was about to say something to her, along the lines of “what do you think you are doing, you a perfect stranger taking video pictures of my son” when I saw the words ITV Central News on her jacket. She was telling him that “it” was going out at six o’clock on Central. I didn’t like the sound of this. "It" being pictures of people out and about in the snow, enjoying themselves. Supposing she had managed to sneak me into the frame? Supposing my boss, after a hard day struggling through blizzards to and from work, slumped into his armchair on his return home, to relax and turning on the tele to watch the news, sees Mr BW lurking in the background as young people sledge and enjoy themselves, with not a laptop or file in sight? It would not look good on my personal file. We made a hasty exit.

Its 17.45pm. Dare I watch the ITV Central news? Come to think of it, I don’t think we can get it! So hopefully my boss can’t.

6 comments:

fiwa said...

Beautiful pictures! I'm glad you enjoyed the day and got to spend some time with your son.

About the journaling, I think it shows tremendous discipline to write every day. I have always wanted to keep a daily journal, but have never had the dedication to keep it up. I seem to be able to write daily only when I'm upset about something, and as soon as it clears up I stop. So since you're not going to write in a journal every day, does that mean you'll blog more?? :)

The Birdwatcher said...

It was a good day. He enjoyed it, though I think he was concerned that I was not doing enough sledging!

I think keeping a journal everyday just became a chore. Though I do like looking back and seeing what I was doing on this day last year etc.Especially when the memory is not what it was.In a way I suppose the blog makes up for it, but because it is public(in theory!)you are a little more careful about what you write? Yes I will probably blog more :)

Anonymous said...

Lovely to hear you talk about more places that are familiar and bring to mind very happy thoughts! We've had so many holidays based there (and for a few years stayed the 'Solomon's Temple' side of town!). I'm envying the fact that my holiday place is your everyday place! :D

(I am having a running battle with Blogger to try and leave this comment... I will not be defeated!!)

The Birdwatcher said...

It is a wonderful place to live and to bring up children. We don't always appreciate it. Trying to post comments can try the patience of a saint. I once left the same comment eight times, even though blogger kept on telling me there had been an error ! A bit embarrassing :)

Anonymous said...

Your comment about the boss catching you reminded me of an incident some years ago. Our top dog at work was having an affair with his secretary which everybody knew about except his wife. On one occasion he told her he was going to a 3 day conference in Europe. It was only when his wife switched on the TV to watch Ski Sunday and saw her hubby and his lover cosying up in the crowd that the truth came out. Ooops!

The Birdwatcher said...

Excellent - I bet that made for an interesting conversation when he got back :)