Sunday but not silent today

This may look like a hurricane on a Caribbean island but unfortunately it’s Genoa, a lovely port city in the Italian Riviera, where at least seven people were killed as flash floods tore through its centre last Friday, a week after torrential rain battered nearby coastal areas. There have always been floods but it is shocking that people still have to die because of them in 2011 when technology seem is so advanced and bad weather conditions should be forecast and measures taken to avoid these disasters. As I have mentioned before, in spire of all our might and arrogance, we are still powerless against the fury of nature.

(Photos from Primocanale)

The Cloud

(picture from La Repubblica)

What BA didn’t manage, an almost forgotten volcano in Iceland did: to stop the flights all over the UK and most of Northern Europe.

The Planet will have a slight reprieve with no flights leaving the UK and less pollution and Co2 being pumped into the air. It is very impressive how Mother Nature can ground polluting flights.

I’m not an expert in the field, but I cannot help thinking that all those underground nuclear tests probably have destabilized the Earth crusts so much that earthquakes will be the norm in the near future. Hopefully I’m wrong.

Where is Spring?

If this is spring, why am I so cold? The few Easter days were wet, windy and cold and all the expected sunshine was out for just a handful of minutes just to make us yearn for spring and warmth even more. I know that talking about the weather (especially the bad weather!) is not only a British habit, but I cannot remember to have dwelled so much on the weather forecast before moving to Britain. Anyway, to console myself (and you as well, I hope), I’d like to post a wonderful picture of my favourite flower, the mimosa (which is actually a shrub and its official name is ‘acacia dealbata’).

I’m also posting my favourite Spring poem, one of the first poems I learnt in the English language.

Lines Written in Early Spring, William Wordsworth

I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sate reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran;

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;

And ’tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,

Their thoughts I cannot measure:--

But the least motion which they made

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,

To catch the breezy air;

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature’s holy plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?

And if in the meanwhile you encounter Spring, please send her up to Yorkshire!!!

After the snow, flooding...

I don’t like January. It’s too long, too cold, to grey. It seems never-ending. I just feel like going to bed and sleep until spring is finally here. But until when? There is no sparkle of hope in sight at the moment. After all the snow at the beginning of the year which caused chaos all over but put a light cover all over making us feel in a sort of fairy tale landscape, in the past few days the snow and ice melting and the rain downpour have caused flooding a bit all over in North Yorkshire. In spite of the multi-million flood defences both in York and in the village where I live, which is very famous for flooding, water can never be defeated completely. So, waiting and hoping for a bit of sunshine, can anybody explain to me where global warming is?

The river Ouse in York already over its average high level a few days ago.

Flood is coming ...


No chance for a picnic in my village ...

...but at least the ducks are happy!

Cold blood

[Spring sky in Yorkshire - although it is not officially spring yet!]

I’m cold. So cold. The central heating is on. I’m wrapped in a warm blanket and I’m thinking of getting a hot water bottle. But I’m too cold to go downstairs. I spent all morning on a football pitch watching my daughter playing. The wind was freezing and there was no sign of the sun. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m so cold now. I think the cold wind has penetrated deep into my bones and I cannot get rid of it. After so many years living in England I got used t everything - rain, mist, fog, snow etc. but I will never get used to the wind. The freezing wind. My husband - English of course – keeps on repeating that Britain is an island, what do I expect? I expect cold autumns and winters but spring? It’s the middle of March, some lovely flowers are already blossoming, so why is it still so cold???
The most ridiculous and typical Yorkshire weather forecast is when they say: today’s temperature is 10 but feels like -10!!! What does it mean? It simply means that the wind is blowing away all the sun’s hard work… So cold. So sad.
Sorry for the ranting, but tonight I just feel envious of everybody living south of Yorkshire!
Got to get the hot water bottle out now and a cup of decaf tea!!!