Heavy Snow Falls

So firstly to all of you reading this who I haven't spoken to since and especially to those of you who I hadn't spoken to before – I hope you all had a very good, happy and as the peeps over here say a merry Christmas, I also hope that the new year is treating you all well?

Since I last wrote there have been a number of incidents, I took my first and hopefully only trip in an ambulance after a sledging accident which apparently knocked me out, this resulted in an ambulance being called and hastily dispatched emergency response team, a cop and I think (bearing in mind I had been knocked out things were quite hazy) another ambulance coming to see me. I ended up being transported to the hospital in part going down the wrong way on a one way road with the lights and sirens going. I was later sent home.

All this came on the same day that we had our first, hopefully not last, substantial snow fall of the winter, we got over 2 and a half feet of snow in a 24hr period. It was pretty crazy but good fun. It brought home even more the extreme nature of where I live, the snows of winter and the recent cold snap contrasted with the torrential tropical rains, high humidity and ridiculous heat of the summer.

The extremes of the weather, as a geographer, I happily understand and am easily excited by, however they are exemplifications which illustrate how extreme I find America at times. The paradox that certain people who I come into contact with daily argue that a national public health system is going to ruin America but are the same people who have worked tirelessly for great inclusion across the nation for more publicly administered special educational schools.

That I right this today on the federal holiday to mark to birth of Martin Luther King's birthday, and the role that he had in shaping the civil rights movement, a day when people are asked to participate in a day of service, adds to this paradox. That America, the land of the free home of the brave, land of capitalism where socialist is a disparaging term, actively invites people to participate in something for the common good, and it's paradoxical and hopeful.

As someone who is actively engaged in a year of service it offers me a great deal of hope and is a source of inspiration. As a US history teacher it staggers me to see how transformational the civil rights movement was and is not only in America but around the world and how this source of hope as personified by great, simple people of conviction likes Rosa Parks Martin Luther King and countless others continues to this day.

 

So thank you once again America for offering a greater understanding of the ability for people to have an active role in changing sytems, organizations, mindsets and the present.

A Christmas of Firsts

I have spent quite a few Christmas's in America over the last decade; I actually think that I have spent 5 Christmas's in America. But I hadn't until this Christmas been here for the build up- Advent.

It's quite hard- I have come to realise- to have once lived in a Catholic retreat centre to then move out of the catholic spiritual world in to the real one where Advent isn't such a big thing. Over the last few years advent has been marked by certain elements of tradition and particular actions. This Advent was marked in part for me by new approaches, new understandings.

It passed quickly more quickly than I had anticipated and then I had wanted. But as we all know Christmas come after Advent and, I had been very much looking forward to this Christmas.

And although marked by it hastily migrating into Christmas Advent offered a real sense of challenge and preparation.

The idea of challenge is often set aside for Lent, with people giving up stuff or things or taking on board something else. But this year there was a real sense that advent was too, a period of challenge. Challenged to think about things differently, challenged to find new ways to prepare. Then came the realisation that actually, Advent has to be challenge. It has to involve difficulty, doubt and confusion. In the same way that as Mary expected Jesus, as millions of families, couples, single parents wait for the coming of their joy, they have to deal with a huge range of feelings, doubts areas of confusions.

Once this realisation has sunk in (it still is) it made for a more enjoyable and less self critical but more self aware advent and Christmas.

Christmas brought with it a great peace and a range of emotion; sadness at what Christmas once was for me and how far I along with the rest of my family have travelled literally and figuratively over the last 10 years, joy and happiness at the beauty of the celebration of Christmas that I was part of, it goes on.

But the was a very large land mark event over my Christmas and as so often the case has come to be my nephew Brendan hard his part to play in it. I am happy to report Brendan caught his first fish under the guidance of his chief fishing uncle. I should point out that I had spent somewhere in the region of3 days without even so much as a bite. Then I bring in the big gun in the form of the very loud bouncy 40lbs 3 and a half year old who within around 4 mins of fishing had caught a rather large (over a foot long) cat fish.

 

 

 

Snowy Good Times

Well today I'm in New York City and its snowing, it's made actually realize that I live very close to a big city where fun stuff happens and even more importantly a big city where I can make fun stuff happen.

On our way up on Friday evening, Sarah, Diana and I had a real communal experience; we got a flat tyre on Interstate 95 - the major road from the south into New York- outside of a toll plaza.

Somewhere around here:

It meant we had to change the tyre in the dark and cold by a busy fast moving road side, but we overcame the difficulties with ipod and phone as a source of light and words of support and encouragement.

All of this meant that today we had to take the car with old flat tyre and skinny replacement to the Garage so off to the garage it was where we met a very helpful man from the Punjab.