it's been raining

...and the village thaws at last

With the rain, and the end of the snow, the last of the ice and snow along the roadsides and on the roof tops is thawing. I guess the slush will follow.

In the words of a frozen friend, "it's been like living in the fridge!" until today when jackets can apparently be relegated to outside wear again. (I've never been a fan of wearing jackets in the house, but admit to being slow to take mine off sometimes, at least until the heater has done its thing!) Today was the first day my frozen friend was able to move about her house without wearing a jacket. For most of this time she has been hunched over the fire in her kitchen. Move over, Cinderella, but could the slippers not be glass this time?

I wonder how some of my older friends have fared. It has been a time of real hardship for this village ill prepared for such snow. How lucky I am to have double glazing, and the new flooring in the cantina. Piccolina makes it very clear that there is quite a temperature difference underfoot between the two halves of the house. I dream of re-flooring the other half, but I really do want it in wood. I don't see why I can't put down some building paper (is it even available here?) a few joists (or whatever they are called), some sheets of el cheapo floor board, and then a nice "SOFT to walk on" surface that suits the ambience of the house. My knees and ankles would thank me for it. But no, I fear that I must have hard hard pavimento if I am not putting down real stone.

Needless to say upstairs is far too cold for me to contemplate, and the terrace under snow is pericolosa to say the least.

While we lament our broken trees and buried bulbs I do remember how the civilians had to survive in the winters of 1943-44 and 1944-45, the worst in living memory. This winter was the worst in 27 years, but we have food, shelter, communication (ok, sometimes), and nobody is booby-trapping our houses or shooting at us. Apart from 3 days of blackout, we have had electricity, and hopefully our olive trees will survive.

Everything is relative, really. We don't know what real hunger is, and we take too many things that are luxury for granted.

Today I am grateful for well fitting shoes.