Still loads of snow

Forgot to mention last week that we had an emergency phone call on the Sunday afternoon. A neighbour of ours at the other flat had had a catastrophe with their woodburning stove, the boiler had burst spilling water everywhere and the temperatures were still below zero, they also had a sick child, not a good combination. They had to phone a friend of ours because they don't speak any English and of course we still don't speak enough Latvian but they wanted to know if we still had the other stove that we removed last year. Well we do, it is or was, sat out in the woodshed awaiting the polytunnel to be finished so we can have some heating in it (no that is still not finished either). Obviously their need was greater than ours and our old stove is now sat upstairs in their home. While they were waiting for the stove to be fitted we lent them our oil-fired radiators, they were really very grateful which is lovely as we were glad we could help. Even better for us it gave us a chance to get to know the neighbours a little better and they have been as helpful as they could be in the past so it was nice to be able to return the favour.

Later on in the week I went up to the other flat to light our fire since no one has been it and we don't want things to freeze. While I was there I watched a guy shovelling snow into his greenhouse and it really puzzled me at first wondering what on earth he was doing until I realised he was watering the soil in the greenhouse in preparation for the coming Spring - neat idea. In many of the blogs I read there is talk of the signs of Spring and many people are in full swing getting the ground prepared outside for vegetables, we on the other hand still have a lot of snow outside but the sun is beginning to melt it, so now it is worth shovelling it into the greenhouse to moisten the soil. In our case, however, it would be worth getting the plastic on the greenhouse so it can start to warm up, all we need to do is track down the guy and get some dates out of him, easier said than done. Well this is Latvia isn't it! Although many folks are longing for Spring as it has been a very cold winter we wouldn't want it to warm up too quickly or places would get flooded, so a long slow thaw with the snow topping up underground wells will be perfect. It hasn't been the coldest winter as far as absolute temperatures goes, but it has been the coldest in duration and as one mum said it has meant the children haven't really had the chance to get out and make snowmen as it has just been much too cold to play out in until now. There have been conflicting reports that it has been the coldest winter for 50 or 70 years depending on who you talk to. We are blessed though by long days in the summer to compensate for our rather short season but hopefully we can extend the season somewhat with the polytunnel this year err if it gets finished.

I went with Ian into Riga to the hospital again this week so that he had a navigator, fortunately the route looks really easy so next time he goes in he can take himself. He had a contract sent to him but wasn't really sure what the hospital department were expecting of him or what the contract was for but turns out it was a contract that would be signed for every visit. So we can now say that Ian has agreed to act as a consultant one day a month helping with the leukaemia diagnosis on a machine called a flow cytometer. His responsibilities are to ensure the machine is working properly, doing what it should be doing and to help train the staff in anyway he can. After that confusion was sorted out he got down to some work while I sat and read, well kind of as well as observing the chaos of a doctor running a clinic and a lab at the same time, she was chasing her tail poor woman. Ian had a good time and was able to sort out one problem they were having which restricted the testing they could do to two colours and now they can use four, if you want to know what that means you can ask Ian but it does help with diagnosing leukaemias to see as many colours as possible (some research labs even use 8, 9 and more). Just as a side note we often wonder why it is that research gets all the funding while hospital labs languish, why is it that the research department has an up to date machine and yet the hospital which aims to save lives has a very old machine - this is not just Latvia, this is many countries.

The IMF have been requesting that the Latvian authorities start taxing property at a higher rate to raise revenue and this might seem fair normally, but not here. If you come from England or the US, on the whole if you have a lot of property it is because you are rich or because you have inherited it or both.  Sounds good doesn't it? Fair even, the more you own the more you pay, but it is not fair. If you managed to regain lands when the country achieved independence then you may indeed have a place out in the country where you can spend a cheap holiday over the summer, but it probably does not or cannot provide any income and you can only afford to get out there once or perhaps twice a year but its yours. So sell it then, maybe your reply! Who to? Other Latvians who are in the same boat? The rich ogliarchs who have made their money through dubious means? Or the rich foreigners next year when the rules change? Now that does not seem fair to me, that will just drive the Latvians off their homelands and into the hands of foreigners, neo-colonialism. Some Latvians have quite extensive land but do not have the capital to do anything with it at the moment and many may indeed have to sacrifice their land if the tax comes into being, which would be a shame after all they have gone through to get the land in the first place. Making land pay is an issue that has being increasingly talked about for a while now and how to ensure farmers get a fair wage from the work they do on the land etc. but until those issues are addressed then people cannot afford to live out there and it doesn't seem right they have to give up fresh air and sunshine in the summer months in the meantime while the powers that be decide what is right and act on it and help people to make a living in the rural areas.

Well after that depressing thought I thought I would end with something a little more lighthearted. Here in Latvia as soon as the lakes freeze over there are men out fishing on them and it looks really strange to see guys walking around with large borers carried over their shoulders, at least we now know that they are heading to or from the lake. This strange sight carries on until there is barely enough ice to stand on which always seem ridiculous to me and I gather is really dangerous anyway, so it comes as no surprise to find that the Latvians have actually come third in the world ice fishing championships, or maybe it is strange that they only came third, does that mean there are places even more addicted to spending hours sat in freezing conditions waiting for fish to bite? Not my idea of fun.

Photos this week
Photo 1 The land beautiful under such a blue sky
Photo 2 Snowtank on "Tank Hill" - many years ago during Soviet times a real tank sat on top of that concrete mound. I am not sure if it was in celebration of winning a battle or the reminder that they were under domination.
Photo 3 The plasticless polytunnel, all cleared and still waiting to be finished
Photo 4 The rustic workshop still waiting to be finished (do you see a theme here?)
Photo 5 You may have to enlarge this picture but there is really green grass there, only a blade or two but after months of snow that is a sign that all is not dead underneath.
Photo 6 Beautiful snow patterns
Photo 7 Some idea of the depth of snow on the land, it measures at 60cm
Photo 8 The path Ian had to make to get some big pieces of wood for a project - again some idea of how much snow we still have
Photo 9 that is a picnic table - still a while before we will be able to have picnics
Photo 10. I know we have had a long cold winter but I still love the beauty, the stillness and the peace that comes with the snow and this photo shows the otherworldliness of a forest in the winter.

Sunshine rules! Ok!

Well it was 7 years this week since we left England and it is amazing how far we have travelled in the meantime. It is so hard to believe where we started and what we have done. I was a housewife with three kids at home 7 years ago, now I am a student again with no children at home. One child is now in Australia, another planning his wedding and another at Uni. Ian and I have moved three times internationally and visited many more countries as well. When I think of all God has accomplished in those 7 years, it makes me excited for the next 7 years; I'm up for a challenge!

So the start of the next 7 years saw us in Cyprus again. I said Ian had had a call to help out on a Friday and on Monday we had booked the tickets to travel, by Sunday we were in Cyprus where we spent a good week, Ian working hard in a lab and me studying hard sat outside in the garden (hard life isn't it?). In the Bible it talks about a Jubilee year as a time when you don't reap or sow but live off what grows naturally from the land, well we sort of did that in our first year of being in Latvia by living off our savings, the year after Jubilee is a time to sow and the third year is the time to reap what you sowed the year before. Last year new relationships were formed by Ian and old ones re-established meaning he spent two weeks working in Cyprus last year, this year has been the fruit of that. I also needed the sunshine and the fresh vegetables to boost my immune system, I finally shook off the cough I had had for weeks so worth the trip out there for me. Don't get too jealous though, we arrived back to even more snow than when we left even though we expected it to have been melting while we were away.

In travelling backwards and forwards to Cyprus we have discovered a really good airline, Czech airlines. The food is not bad for an airline, they even have metal cutlery, they describe one meal as a light snack but it is a whole baguette with ham, cream cheese and roasted red pepper which is included in the price, a rarity these days and their main meals are pretty edible too. It is just a very pleasant experience and would be even more so if the times of flights from Prague to Cyprus leg weren't so awful, we arrived at 2:30am and left at 3:15am. One of the best parts is the discovery of a brilliant animation Pat and Mat which is made in the Czech republic but it is classic slapstick stuff, we always look forward to seeing them on the in flight entertainment and you don't need to know Czech to understand it. Talking of food and airlines, I had to laugh at one bit of news out from United Airlines (an American airline) that they are going to introduce an organic option to their snack box range, does this mean that finally there is something in the box that is more edible than the box itself? Believe me their snack boxes are awful normally, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

I was spitting feathers at one particular news story about IMF's Mark Allen called out of retirement to come and sort Latvia out, the sense of smugness he has about the job he has done and the sense of rightness that the guy has left me astounded. The fact is that if he has been operating for the last 40 years he has not been doing a very good job. His experience is useless and is still putting the pain of adjustments onto the poorest segments of the population something the Icelandic people decided was not something they were willing to do in their nation judging by their referendum this week. If the IMF did proper assessments of the job they do across the whole of society and found their systems work then I would acquiesce to their knowledge but the only criteria they have is that the country pays back their debts and they believe the pain that is inflicted is fine because the poor will benefit in the end, something that is not borne out by experience, the poor suffer and continue to suffer even after the economy is supposed to be on an even footing. The pain is also only worth it when you are sat in your ivory tower and don't have to watch your child dying through lack of medical help or food because your suddenly expected to pay for it. At least in Latvia people are not dying for want of medical help (well not that I know of) but they do end up with big bills as one of our neighbours has and without the means to pay it.

Not sure if I am happy about the fact that the World Bank has agreed a loan for providing a social security net in Latvia. I agree with the fact that the poor do need additional support and there are plenty around judging by the numbers there are clearing paths in our village. Clearing paths is a job creation scheme for those without work, helpful when it has been very snowy but sad that there are so many needing the money. The problem is that a loan is a debt that needs repaying at the end of the day and is only necessary because of the bad debts that Latvia has got into and the stupidity of bankers greed in lending the money in the first place, the children of this nation have been mortgaged to the hilt now and it will be a long time before they will be free of it.

On a lighter note I was quite entertained by an article on a citizen's initiative in Naples. Claudio Agrelli set up an online community whose citizens never jump red lights, and they always use the pedestrian crossings in other words they always follow the rules, not something that Naples or Italy is renowned for. He is seeking to establish a community where people respect rules and actively participate in discussions on those things they believe would be good for the community which is brilliant really, anything that moves people to becoming active citizens with an interest in other people is to be applauded. Good citizens of the world unite

Photos
Photo 1 My spot by the pool under the palm trees
Photo 2 A lemon tree in the garden of course, not many of those in the UK or Latvia
Photo 3, 4 and 5 my more sheltered spot for windy moments
Photo 6 It wasn't warm all the time so nothing better than a seat by the fire to carry on doing some reading.

Would you believe it!

Well here I am sitting in the shade of a palm tree by the side of a pool with the sun shining and listening to the birds tweeting, not like the half metre of snow we left in Latvia. They have had heavy rain here in Cyprus which is good for a drought stricken land but I am pleased that the forecast is pleasantly warm enough to sit outside in some sun for the next few days, something I wouldn't be able to do for at least another month in Latvia. In fact the day before we left we had to rescue a friend twice from the wet slushy snow (yes it had started to warm up), being from the South of England he was quite amazed at the techniques we used to get him out when we couldn't actually tow him, from sacks under the wheels, to bits of twigs and fir tree when they didn't work. Hope he got out from the camp where he was staying though as we weren't around to help him the next day as we were on the way to the airport.

Talking of snow in Latvia, Riga has seen the most snow in any winter for the last 100 years. What an awful time for that to happen though as it was also the time when they had the least money to clear the roads. Riga didn't come to a standstill though and the population muddled on through it all.

Latvia hasn't been in the main news because of the snow but because of a hacker who has hacked into the State Revenue service and stole quite a few details of people's tax returns. He or she has been dubbed the Robin Hood hacker because they have been revealing how some of the rich have been less than truthful with the Latvian public, from bankers and public servants who haven't taken the cuts that they said they would to those who have been given bonuses despite the fact they have turned to the Latvian Government for aid. Despite the illegality of what they have done they are being hailed as heroes for brining to the attention of the public the less than transparent dealings of the rich, who continue to benefit despite the terrible problems the public have been having. Does make you wonder who the real villains are? Still on the subject of Latvian state services I came across this one during my internet trawl - The Latvian State Agency of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Nemateriālā kultūras mantojuma valsts aģentura), what a fantastic name, not entirely sure what it means but I think it is something to do with things like language, ie the cultural identity of a nation that is not made of bricks and mortar but I could be wrong.

The World bank is in a spot of bother too. Apparently they have not been checking up on whether their policies actually do work, something they agreed to do a few years ago. Another interesting fact to come out of a recent report is that the World bank still relies heavily on consultants from the North to advise poorer countries which consumes an awful lot of dosh, rather than building up the poorer countries capacity to take action themselves. In other words the North are paying themselves a lot of money for bad advice and that is classed as "aid." Think there maybe a need to change there then.

Well I know this is short but I had better get back to lounging errr I mean studying in the sun, but just so you know what I have had to put up with here are some photos from last week in the snow.

Most of these photos you will have seen before but this will be probably as deep as it gets for this winter.
Photo 1: That door is actually way off the ground and is never used, and so it is not snow on the steps.
Photo 2: The seats finally disappeared again this year, like last year (The rural East of Latvia usually gets more snow than Riga but this year I don't think so. The bin ever so nearly disappeared too but not quite.
Photo 3: The ice roads we navigate for at least 3 months of the year and makes you realise why winter tyres are compulsory in Latvia from the beginning of November to the end of March.

Spring lies waiting

I don't know what it is about winter but it brings out the poet in me so here is another offering

Spring lies waiting

The blanket lies white upon the ground

So deep, muffling sound

Hard to believe 

What lies beneath

Colour locked in bulbs 

So deep

Asleep

Waiting in their earthly dreams

For warmth to seep from above

To awaken and stretch out

Their dresses of velvet cloth

Refreshing drab senses

Dulled by long winter months

Lethargy peels off

Hope arises

Winter will lose its grip once more

Unexpected invites

My cough rumbled on all week and I was close to having to go to the doctors if it didn't improve over the weekend, fortunately for me it is now slowly getting better. On the Friday evening it was even a bit scary as I didn't feel I could breathe properly and the thought of having to go to the doctors and oh the hassle of arranging a translation just did not thrill me one bit. I got Ian to beat me on the back from time to time and it  worked wonders and helped me to breathe - hope no one could see in and misunderstand what he was doing though, rumours do have a habit of spreading rather rapidly round here. Going to the doctors always takes on a different edge when in a foreign country, in America it wasn't too bad as my doctor was a lovely Irish lady who was once a nurse but since qualified as a doctor but in Denmark and here in Latvia the chances of miscommunication are huge. The doctor here is good and is a no nonsense type and fearsome to boot, you don't mess with her that's for sure, she will make sure that children get their medication no matter how inept or drunk their parents are but that doesn't make going to see her any easier.

Having now finished the loo our next task in the other flat is to get what is now the shower room tidied up and a bath put in. We have talked backwards and forwards about what to do and how to do it, how to hide unsightly pipes without burying them in walls - burying pipes in walls risks leaks and more expensive work and it is always a balance between getting something looking neat and yet accessible. The components here are a bit hit and miss, sometimes they are brilliant and sometimes they are less than perfect and downright rubbish, not what you want when you have just kitted out a lovely new bathroom. One thing we realised with our newly enlarged loo is that there is now room for the water boiler - a huge boiler is the only option here, no tidy little units to speak of and so room has to be found somewhere, our Swedish friend also thinks the expansion tank can go in there too, hope there is still room for the loo by the time we finish (must get some photos though before it gets too cluttered). As we were chatting about different options our friend mentioned that he had just seen a great oven/boiler - kind of like an aga type thing and he thought it would be perfect for the flat. He waxed lyrically about it so much that in the end we went to have a look at it . When we got there we stood looking at it for ages, measuring it up, talking about its suitability measuring it up blah blah blah, could we let this chance go, was it suitable and so on and on. The problem is that we know if we didn't buy it we might never see something similar again. As you can guess we bought it and with our limited Latvian we managed to get the lady to understand we needed it delivering, at first she implied she couldn't help but a few phone calls later a few hefty blokes turn up with pick up van and follow us home with said goods in back. It was a sight to behold as they lugged that 196 kg oven up the six steps to the flat - good job it wasn't the three flight of steps up to the one we live in. I gave them an extra 5 lats to compensate having to work hard for their money which seemed to do the trick.

Earlier on in the week I felt there would be some surprising invites but wasn't really sure what - then again they wouldn't have been a surprise if I knew would they! The invites all happened on the same day which got a bit frantic. In the morning we were asked by some leaders of the church we attend to lead a home group. It is something that has been talked about for a while and although it is nice to think we would make an effort to see each other to support each other and pray for each other when we get together without the formality of having a home group the reality is we don't, we need to get more intentional and so a home group seemed like a good move forward. It was a little surprising to be asked outright to set the ball rolling but we feel that our previous experiences gives us a good base from which to start and although it is pretty much an ex-pat group at the moment that is not the long-term plan but we can experiment with the format and see what works, see how little or lot of structure is required and play around with ideas. It would be nice to be completely free about meeting together without any structure but we talk too much about things which are not about where God is taking us and if we believe that God wants to have a positive effect on the area we live in then we have to do more to search for what he wants us to do instead of getting side tracked amusing though those side-tracks are. Don't worry we won't get too serious there is plenty of time to talk at other times.

I said Friday was frantic, well that afternoon Ian got a call from his friend in Cyprus, she had retired finally, but as was expected it did leave a big hole in the area she worked in, no one had been trained up sufficiently to do the work despite repeated warnings. Ian's services together with his friend's were required to help get a lab on its feet, could he fly out?  Well with the snow still on the ground and no sign of it disappearing for a while, even if it was to suddenly warm up, then Ian is flexible to go, so with details sorted this morning (Monday) he booked his flights to go to Cyprus this Sunday. I have enough airmiles to go too and incredibly there were bookable seats on the plane for me to join him - he ho! Sunshine here we come! We shall leave our place and car in our Swedish friend's capable hands, the car needs a wash anyway and it always comes back cleaner if we loan it to him. At the beginning of our third year here in Latvia I do wonder where this will lead.

Ian finally got his back hoe (excavator, digger whatever you want to call it) onto the tractor and working this week, only 5 months after purchasing it. The final cost of getting the back hoe to fit the tractor was 100 Lats (about £123, US$ 190) which was an awful lot cheaper than buying the attachments as it was going to cost about £1200 to have them shipped out. Ian was having so much fun playing around with it (that is Ian concentrating not frowning really) that I did briefly wonder whether we should open a digger centre so all grown up boys can get to play with diggers, I am sure it would be a huge hit. We were laughing about how it will be surprising how many ditches, drains, ponds will suddenly become an absolute must on our piece of land. Don't worry I shall be keeping an eye on him and making sure we have ponds where we need them, hehe.

In Britain if you spend more than 10% of your disposable income on fuel then you are considered fuel poor and there are schemes to help those who have this problem. Here in Latvia 10% would be a blessing. Last year I said our fuel bills were so high that a pensioner barely had 30LVLS (£37, US$57) left after paying the heating, fortunately this year the bills are much lower due to the new re-circulation pump we had fitted to our apartment building, despite the incredible cold spell. The bills though are still high compared to incomes and are still just under half of a pension, or quarter of a teacher's wage, in Britain that wouldn't make them fuel poor but poverty stricken. One good thing to come out of this crisis though is the drop in food prices, food costs had escalated before the crisis particularly in the basics and now people cannot afford the inflated prices they are starting to slide downwards. The other thing that is starting to slide is company profits, but surprise surprise the interest rates remain high. Maybe the banks believe they are taking the pain of their stupid lending practices due to the high level of defaults but the high interest rates paid here in Latvia are not sustainable with the reduced profits causing companies to fold even if they are still able to get work. I can never understand why banks maintain high interest rates and accepting the huge number of defaults meaning people losing homes and businesses folding in such times. Why can't they drop their interest rates and help people to stay in their homes and businesses to stay afloat? Are defaults cheaper? I guess so as even if the home or business is repossessed the money is still owed. Is this system right? At the flip of a coin it is heads the bank wins, tails the bank win! Maybe someone out there can tell me it isn't so and how it really works? I would love to know and I am sure I am not the only one.

Photos
Photo 1 A lonely chair and fire
Photo 2 & 3 A before and after picture out the back of our apartment. The first picture was in October last year and the second this week. Play spot the bin (trash can)! That will give you an indication of how much snow we have.
Photo 4 Last year the snow froze and we walked on the snow, this year it has resolutely remained powder even making walking in snow shoes difficult.
Photo 5 Ian clearing the roadway on our land yet again, or is he just playing with the tractor?
Photo 6 Ian on the back hoe practising digging.
Photo 7 Our Father Christmas car.

All in a spin

Well no moose were spotted on the way to the airport this time but our son and his fiancée were deposited safely at the airport even though it is 2 1/2 hours away on mainly ice roads to get there. Unfortunately our return journey was not without drama. We were one bend away from our home village and I had nodded off (no I wasn't driving) but woke to see us gently sliding towards the bank at the side of the road, next thing we know we had spun round and rather unceremoniously slid backwards down into a ditch, finding out along the way that the substantial looking snow banks were no more than powder and not very effective at stopping a sliding car. Ian tried to drive out but we were well and truly stuck. A car slid to a stop next to us and nearly ended up in the ditch too but not quite and only required a bit of a push to get out. It was with relief that we recognised the young man who got out, a friend of ours who blessedly speaks English. Ian and some other of our friend's fellow travellers started digging out around the car but discovered the reason we hadn't slid further down the bank was because of a huge concrete block that was wedged under our kickboard. Ironically the driver of the car, containing our friend, that had stopped was someone Ian had towed only earlier on in the week and it was she who decided to go organise a tractor to come and drag our car out, well one good turn deserves another I guess. It was a bit tricky getting the car out, it wouldn't go forwards and in fact looked in danger of rolling so was pulled out backwards, ploughing through quite a bit of snow to do so. Still we were safe and all that was dented was the kickboard, the rest of the car was fine. 

There wasn't much chance of drama after that as I got a cough and I have been rather poorly with it, I even had to cancel English lessons yet again. So frustrating as I am so rarely ill even more frustrating by the weekend as it was Latvian Schools Winter Olympiad which is held annually in our village and all I could do was watch from a distance out of the window as cars and buses parked up and people milled around, so much happening and I was stuck inside. I did see the fireworks for presumably the opening ceremony as they were at the nearby school and clearly visible from our living room window but that was about it. They have all sorts of events from cross country skiing, downhill skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey tournaments on an iced over playground, and cross country skiing with shooting, so there would have been plenty to see. Still some presumably local youths decided to snowboard and ski down the hill near to us so I could watch them.

I was also back to studying this week and managed to get some of it done before my head hurt too much, one of the exercises was to list about 25-30 employment sectors in a given area. I of course started to list the different sectors in this village and despite a lot of jobs being based in the fact we have a large technical school here where students can board during the week there is still a multiplicity of jobs and I am sure this is not an exhaustive list.

Primary Sector -production

Dairy Farming

Sheep Farming

Strawberry Farm

Vegetable growing

Forestry

Secondary Sector - manufacturing

Bakery

Joinery Company

Hydro-electric generation

Road Construction company

Machinist shop

Wood mills

Tertiary Sector - services

Local Government

Schools

Technical School and boarding 

Builder’s merchants

Supermarkets

Hotels

Museums

Doctors

Old people’s home

Auto repairs

Tyre repairs

Clothes shops

Florists

Vets

Tractor services (Cutting and baling etc)

Sheep shearing

Second-hand furniture shop
Post office

Quaternary Sector - supposedly higher services 

Insurance Agent

Banks

It was quite surprising to list all these jobs for such a small place. In England it was rare to have quite so many actually doing such a diverse range of jobs within the village itself. Most villages may have a range of employment of villagers but that would be because they commuted to nearby large towns. Our small village in Derbyshire lost services like doctors post office and shops either during the fifteen years we were there or shortly after - a killer for small communities. 


A diverse range of employment ordinarily is quite healthy for a community but not much help with the local economy here. A think tank in England, NEF, suggested that people should work 21 hours a week for a better work, home balance which would be kinder to the environment and that is pretty much what some folks around here are working, unfortunately that is not so good here as it means they cannot make an adequate wage to live. 21 hours a week is all very well if you are paid enough and I am not talking about funding the type of wasteful lifestyle many in the West take for granted, I am talking about having the basics to pay for housing, heating and food. Many articles recently have stated that the Baltic people are being very stoic under the circumstances, just getting on quietly with the business of trying to find work, trying to feed themselves or leaving the country. Either that or they are drinking to escape the misery of this very cold winter. We have enjoyed the winter as it is brighter than a wet winter but we have enough money for food and heating, it is no fun when you don't have a car, and your house is cold and there is not enough money to eat properly. The average Latvian needs more than 21 hours a week that is for sure.

I understand that Canada are having their own Olympics too, such copy cats. One Latvian, Haralds Silovs, has been making records by becoming the first Olympian to compete in long- and short-track speedskating events - and doing it on the same day. Silovs finished 20th in the 5,000 meters on the big oval around midday, then finished fifth in the B finals of the 1,500 around the short track at night. 

I was rather surprised this week to find out that Jonathan Edwards who was always held up as a hero for his openess about his faith - has lost his faith. What exactly did he lose? Religiosity? Rules? Or faith? I don't know, I am not him and I have no idea why he has gone down the path that he has taken or what triggered it. I think many of those with faith do suddenly find that God is not where they think he is, but often go on to find that he is bigger than they thought he was. Mystics often talk of the "dark night of the soul" where God seems to be hiding, but in essence he is encouraging us to go deeper and search for him, those who have gone through it often talk of the way that their faith is stretched and deepened in those times. I remember a time when the thought rushed into my head and exploded there, "What if God was not real?", "What if it is all a sham?" I felt I was looking into a hole and I didn't like what I saw, it was a whole load of deep, dark nothingness (not sure that makes sense but I can't really find the words to describe it). I shrank back from that hole and in my mind decided there was no way I would ever go there and the relief was enormous. Even when God seems far away I know he is there, he never leaves me, even if his presence is not felt and that is what I hold onto.


Photos: firstly apologies for the quality of the photos, they were taken inside on a snowy day with a telephoto lens - that was the nearest I was going to get to any action.
Photo 1 Coaches outside the school
Photo 2 The newly created carpark specially for the occasion on a frozen grass bank
Photo 3, 4, 5 & 6 Our local Olympians doing their own version of the Mogul event

Holiday?

Had a lovely week with our son and future daughter-in-law, would have done more if I hadn't had a cold and then passed it onto Mark our son and Ian, very generous of me don't you think? It didn't stop us sitting around the table talking for hours though, a habit our family developed over the years. I am so pleased that as a young family Ian and I agreed to eat together with the kids at the table and didn't sit around watching the tv as was the habit of both of our families except for special occasions. Most of my childhood memories stem from those special occasions of eating around the table and I hope that by sitting around with our family the stories of the past which got recycled at the time helped to give a sense of history and fun that make our family what it is. Hopefully those family times lasts longer than the disappointment of not being able to go to dancing/swimming/horse riding/ etc etc etc that all the other kids got to go to because their families could afford it. The problem with that kind of lifestyle is that usually it means not everyone is in the house at the same time to eat together. It wasn't always easy, there were times the mood around the table was frosty to say the least but there were plenty of good times too.

Had one of those bonding moment with my future daughter-in-law as I screeched for Kerry, "Can you help me please? Quickly!" It was  panic stations as the u-bend on the sink came apart for some reason and my beautiful hand built cupboards were swimming in a layer of water, fortunately Kerry was in the house and so I was able to pass things out to her and bale out the cupboard quickly and between the two of us we worked out how to get the kick boards off under the cupboards to allow everything to dry off. Did have a good time in the bakery to make up for it though.

We know all the best places to go and so took a visit to a DIY store - isn't that what everyone does on their holidays? It is there that Kerry found out her future husband's interest in tools and gadgets as Ian and Mark waxed lyrical about mallets and bought one just because Ian hasn't got one (I did think it might come in handy for hammering in fence posts and so allowed it). It is funny to see how children grow and take on some of the interests, mannerisms or outlooks of the parents and now as young adults we can see flashes of ourselves in them and also marvel at how different they are at other times. I love listening to our kids talking of hopes and dreams as they embark on their new lives and I pray that their journeys will be full of excitement and a sense of fulfillment. I know their journeys will not be without hiccups and ups and downs as no life journey is ever smooth. Taking time to enjoy the journey and appreciate all that they have and the experiences they can learn from makes for a much better journey than to be always wondering when you will get to a destination, after all we are still enjoying our journey which we are on.

We did do some touristy things though, honest! We made use of the cross country ski run at the top of the road and wouldn't you know it, with an audience and trying to show Kerry how to classic ski (well okay what works for me to get moving), I managed to fall over four times. Hmmph! Only fallen over once before and I wasn't even showing off. We also decided to investigate the downhill skiing at Lidokalns  as well, it's a man made ski run built by the same guy who built all the Lido restaurants in Riga (nearly everyone we know who has gone to Riga will have been to the original Lido restaurant at some stage); this is situated near to the highest point in Latvia (now at this point all my Colorado friends need to make sure they are sat down somewhere safe when they fall about laughing) Gaizinkalns is a whole 312m (1032 ft) a bit lower than where we used to live in Fort Collins at 1524m (5003ft) and we weren't even in the foothills. Skiing was a little cheaper at Lidokalns, 3LVLs (£3.70, $5.80) for ski rental and 3LVLs for ski lifts compared to $34 ski rental alone at Winter Park, Colorado where we went two years ago. Okay so the ski run was not exactly the longest run in the world and couple of minutes and we were at the bottom but since it was Kerry's first time skiing then the nursery slopes were excellent for her and Mark and I could then do a couple of runs on the main run without everyone freezing too badly at the bottom or my legs seizing up too badly. Ian didn't join us skiing but I nearly fell over in shock when he said we might go back again because everything was so close, instead of requiring buses to get from the car to the slopes meaning he didn't freeze in the transfer process.

And now for something completely different as they say, a post on Forum of the future begged the question "If climate change didn't exist would we have to invent it?" Martin Prices asks what if climate change didn't exist and turned out to be a myth, then are we mad to be spending time on research on renewable energy and energy efficiency when oil is not an infinite source of energy? Forest conservation would not be essential or would it? After all it is not just about reducing the CO2 in the atmosphere but also about preventing soil erosion, and flooding. Basically all the steps we take to reduce the CO2 we emit would improve the environment we live in so why aren't we taking the steps anyway? Love it! Just my kind of thinking. Let's stop arguing over whether climate change is happening or not and start looking after this good ol' planet that God made and stop trashing it.

Photos
Photo 1 - Me powering down the straight (if you believe that you will believe anything) at our local cross country track
Photo 2 - Yes I fell over and Ian had the camera to prove it
Photo 3 - Me passing on my not so vast experience of downhill skiing to Kerry
Photo 4 - Mark looking uber cool
Photo 5 - Kerry doing ever so well at her first attempt at skiing (at least she stayed upright) which is a good start.
Photo 6 - Mark tackling the very technical slalom course