Life Below Zero - Baby it's cold outsdie.

It is very cold at the moment and on mornings like this when I have to de-ice my car, my thoughts turn to those unfortunate people who are sleeping out on the streets. I say living with uncertainty because I am sure that many of them are merely surviving and that in 2019 is surely unacceptable. What kind of uncaring society allows the poor and dispossessed to live in doorways when the temperatures drop and even keeping homes warm is problematic.

A snapshot count of those on the street has shown a decrease in numbers but the figure is arrived at simply by checking on one night. The accuracy of this count must be called into question. If the counting teams approach a tent they are not permitted to enter - therefore this person cannot be included in the count. The fact is we really don't know how many are left out in the cold and we probably never will.

The city of Helsinki is offering support to Manchester in order to address the problem. Their solution is to prioritise the homeless, getting them into social housing as soon as possible. They recognise that the cost of increased health and social issues is far higher in the long term than providing accommodation. Naturally, people who have been on waiting lists for social housing may be disgruntled by this policy but would anyone want to deny the homeless a second chance at life.

There have been recent initiatives by community minded individuals such as leaving unwanted coats at strategic places in towns.  I often stop to chat, inform people of the location of the nearest homeless shelter or buy a hot drink and a Kit Kat to help them keep warm. I consider this a small intervention but was lifted to hear that in Liverpool, buses are being kitted out with beds to give homeless people some respite from the cold weather.

In Chicago today the temperature is down to -25 degrees but the wind chill factor makes it feel much colder. A reporter this morning said that the cold was actually painful. The river has frozen and residents have been advised to stay indoors where possible and not to breath deeply if they have to venture out. The all time cold spell is due to the displacement of polar air which is spiralling over
Illinois and Michigan. I have experienced -22 degrees when holidaying in Austria over Christmas. It was so cold that lift attendants didn't turn up for work.

Before and after - A lighthouse in Michigan this week.  

Research into life below zero led me to look at Iceland and that has helped in the writing of my poem.

Ice Maiden

She moves slowly -
Imperceptibly
Her flowing frozen train
Spread long and wide
In her wake
It glistens as it rises
to a grand protrusion
A two thousand metre peak
Where it bursts
With effusive eruption
Spewing molten larva
High in the Icelandic sky
In the land of fire and ice
Vothajokull is queen
A mighty ice maiden
A glorious glacier
In the land of fire and ice
In the land of fire and ice. 

Thank you for reading. Keep warm and safe. Adele  

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Volcano - Shout at a teacher.

Volcanoes are extinct in the United Kingdom. The last activity I can find took place off the County Antrim coast in Northern Ireland about sixty million years ago. Described as an intense eruption, the after-event gave us the vast collection of hexagonal basalt columns named Giant’s Causeway. And that was it until both my children, at separate times, reached Year 7 Science homework.

The task was to construct a mountain from papier mache and demonstrate an active volcano by mixing the correct amounts of vinegar and baking soda in a suitable vessel placed in the open centre of the mountain.

Child Number One, academically gifted, refused point blank to waste time doing baby-work building a mountain, but understood the chemistry and was happy enough to experiment and get the volcanic mix right. At my most diplomatic, I tried to explain the situation to a non-listening science teacher whose lack of interest was rude, to say the least. My reaction, when my patience ran out, was scarily close to a volcanic eruption. Not for the first time and certainly not the last, I wished this child had agreed to my choice of school, where I couldn’t imagine ever having to shout down a corridor at a teacher’s back.

Four years later and Child Number Two, enjoying the creative aspect of the task, built a remarkable papier mache mountain that we thought would never, ever dry out in time to be painted. Luckily, the dampness didn’t spoil the effect. It looked really impressive with various shades of grey merging into black for shadows and silver for definition with lots of brown and green at ground-level. This artwork, which had taken time and thought was ruined by the erupting volcano, resulting in a very upset child mopping up fizzing, colourful streams. The perfect experiment was of no consolation.

 

My choice of poem is A Still Volcano Life  by Emily Dickinson

 

A still – Volcano – Life -

     That flickered in the night -
     When it was dark enough to do
     Without erasing sight -
 

A quiet – Earthquake Style -

     Too subtle to suspect
     By natures this side Naples –
     The North cannot detect

The Solemn – Torrid – Symbol –

     The lips that never lie –
     Whose hissing Corals part – and shut –
     And Cities – ooze away –

 

Thanks for reading, Pam x

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