The winds, supposedly at 77 mph, are passing the window. It does not appear to be that bad however, the trees are swaying a wee bit, things are being blown about, and at least one of our wheelie bins had to be retrieved after being emptied this morning. Yet people are about, dogs are being walked happily, no serious damage in the near vicinity, though the main water pump has failed and the taps are offering only a trickle throughout the town. This is surely not the result of the storm.
The temprature is around 50%, the sun breaks through now and again, and in spite of the fear messages us indoors do not see this as worse than regular winter storms. It may of course be dangerous elsewhere. Looking out I noticed that the weather has little effect on the Council Daffodils. The first one has bloomed, others are ready to come out once the storm has blown over, and soon the world will be springtime yellow once again.
As I said, the wind was not that powerful, so knowing that tomorrow all the old people who would not venture out in a storm would arrive at Sainsburys early in the morning I decided to shop now.
As I walked the wind gusted at varying speeds, with the temperature being mild I quite enjoyed the short walk. I took the trouble to carry the empties back to the recycle part, therefore I was anchored quite well. I thought the sound of the wind enjoyable, almost howling through the trees above me and around the park. A very interesting sound, not like the sound of the trees swaying in the wind around the 'Big Hoose' behind us when I was a kid. I recall how often we could hear the sound, storms are not unknown in Scotland, and the trees up the back swayed and creaked as you neared them. At the other park down the road two trees have fallen over, these were more isolated and open to the wind than my neighbours, but it appears no-one has been hurt.
A quick shuffle around a very quiet store, less than half the cars expected at this time on a Friday, and being happy with life, I decided to go back via the park anchored by the weight of my goodies. You can tell my back, still with an ache, is far better than it was on Monday. Someone had cordoned off some areas in town, but the cordon had been blown, or knocked down, so passage was easy. Little damage had been done around the town, though our wheelie bins had been laid down, and other items similarly dealt with.
As I rounded the corner the wind blew me roughly backwards then very roughly forwards again, I became glad of my anchor. It appeared not to know which way it was meant to come. Various items flew down the road with each gust, plastic lids, a few bags, lots of paper, carboard boxes and the like.
As I crossed the near deserted park the trees appeared quite stout but lots of branches, usually small ones, lay around. The wind made my journey back much quicker than usual.
