Dreaming of a Grey Christmas

Despite my apartment having a four-metre wide window facing south I’m still struggling to see the letters on the keyboard. It feels like it’s been like this for weeks. Heavy grey wall-to-wall cloud with the occasional morning offering an hour of sunshine before the clouds muscle in again. The kind of weather the travel-writer Bill Bryson described in one of his books as “like living inside a Tupperware© bowl.”

The dog woke me up at 07.38 and it was still dark. Not because the sun rise failed, but the thing that keeps us all alive didn’t stand a chance today and it looks like it’s a got mighty struggle on for the next six days.

Rolling over, pulling the duvet over my head and ignoring animal life just isn’t on since I don’t like mopping up pools on the kitchen floor or scooping up brown emojies hidden in a corner somewhere. The daily ritual of following my four legged friend on a length of expensive tailored rope for thirty minutes while she pokes her nose into piles of soggy leaves has to be played out.

At least she waits patiently when we return while I towel her feet and fill the pot with boiling water so she can have her daily bowl while my tea infuses (or draws as my Nan called it). I’m almost ashamed to admit I drag my sorry arse back to bed to sup and read on-line news in relative warmth while the radiators in the lounge power up. She usually crashes out after her stroll on one corner of the duvet remaining motionless until I rouse myself and prepare breakfast.

The rest of the week following our daily ritual will entail shopping trolley jousts in Aldi or Lidl and standing in overlong checkout Qs while newly freed school kids buzz up and down the line. She of course spends her free time depositing fluffy hair on my couch while I’m out “hunting for food.”

At least this week will terminate in family visits and a pleasant “kerstavond” meal at the parents of my son’s partner where like many parents I can unload my furry charge on family members for a few hours. Anyway, I certainly intend to enjoy the break despite the sorry state of the weather this Christmas.

-----Photo courtesy of my dog's feet-----