Winter Solstice and Snow

Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times

I'm not sure if I am enjoying the snow or if I am fed up with it. I was up early yesterday to clear the driveway  paths at my house for the umpteenth time over the past few weeks, but I also wanted to see the lunar eclipse just after dawn. The moon was clearly visible in the western sky, but the bright lights of Dublin obviously reduced the impact of this phenomenon which has not occurred on the Winter Solstice for four hundred years. I did not get to see the red glow (as in the photo from The Irish Times web site). Next lunar eclipse visible in Ireland takes place in 2015.

I am taking the DART to work (and suffering Harley-Davidson withdrawal symptoms). Last Monday I got off in Blackrock and witnessed the worst traffic jams I have ever seen in our neighbourhood. I am entertained by the efforts of drivers on our roads - many who appear to have paid absolutely no attention to radio and TV warnings about how to drive in the snow. Paddy Comyn of the Irish Times has a helpful video in an article about Winter Driving Tips:

 

Anger and danger are never too far apart. Yesterday I witnessed on Carysfort Avenue a young male driver of a small truck, that had a load of peat briquettes, revving up and skidding all over the place. He was getting angrier and angrier, with loud curses coming out of his cab - he could not get up the hill. As I was passing he made a very dangerous turn (which I had to take steps to stay out of his way), and then astonishingly shot off down the road and overtook a slower moving car. Absolute shite for brains!