Snow in St Brelade

Listening to Radio Jersey this morning, one would be forgiven for thinking there was no snow in Jersey. They have had industrial strength snow paralyzing the South-East of England, and apparently two inches in Alderney, but none here - "snow, snow, snow" chanted the presenters.

The oddities of Island weather however are such that rain in one Parish may leave another unscathed, and indeed this is what happened this morning. In the wilds of St Brelade, there was quite a sprinkling of snow, only a few millimeters thick, but settled and present on roads, hedges and roof tops, certainly enough to scoop up and make a snow ball from. It was sufficiently slippery on the road to make driving at speed unwise. I drove in towards St Helier at around 20 miles per hour, making sure the tires gripped the road surface as did pretty well everyone else, until Mont Nicolle School, when suddenly the snow fell away, or was so light it had been blown off the road. After then, it was pretty plain sailing, and Victoria Avenue was clear. And then the Radio Jersey announced that there had been no snow in Jersey, so I rang in to tell them as motorists should take care. It hasn't yet thawed from my car roof.

Recently, there have been a lot of celebrations of Burns night, and with the snow, I was thinking of my favourite poem by Burns, which is very appropriate for snowy and cold mornings, when you just do not want to get out of bed, or a nice warm house. It is just brilliant in its evocation of feelings when you look out of the window onto a white and freezing landscape. Here it is:

Up in the Morning Early
 
Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west,
The drift is driving sairly;
Sae loud shrill`s I hear the blast,
I`m sure it`s winters fairly.

CHORUS:Up in the morning`s no for me,
Up in the mornings early;
When a` the hills are cover`d wi` snaw,
I`m sure it`s winter fairly.

The birds sit chittering on the the thorn,
A` day they fare but sparely;
And lang`s the night frae e`en to morn,
I`m sure it`s winter fairly.

CHORUS: Up in the morning`s no for me,
Up in the mornings early;
When a` the hills are cover`d wi` snaw,
I`m sure it`s winter fairly.

Robert Burns