Not Porty People or Places

A day of two halves.

It dawned bright and sunny with 14 degrees as we left our motel and headed north for lunch with our friends in Cumbria. We had a wonderful catch up with J and D and a super chance to see all the excellent additions they have made to their beautiful home.

We left shortly before three for the final leg of our home run. This blip is taken as we left their house and shows the change in the weather but does not reflect the plummeting temperatures. 6 degrees by the time we crossed Shap.

On the A74 M climbing out of Beattock , north of Lockerbie, we hit some invisible standing water, lost all contact with the road, collided with the magic wires on the central reservation and ricocheted, almost in classic slow mo, across three lanes to make a controlled emergency stop on the hard shoulder. Scary!

Miraculous is an overworked word. Today's near disaster was genuinely miraculously avoided. Two angels who contributed to our being safe home in Edinburgh this evening were from a much maligned tribe : White Van Man,

They were following us. Witnessed our pirouette with death. Stopped to check we were ok and then proceeded anonymously on their way. With hindsight I realise their judicious use of hazard warning lights averted others in our wake from almost inevitable collision.

We are extremely appreciative of being here, at all, this evening.

That our car is not at all well is inconsequential to what might have been, had its Japanese safety engineering , built in Britain, not done what it had been designed for.