Safe in our (snow) bubble

Bright yellow suns mark each hour of daylight on the BBC weather app today - ideally time for one of our long walks. But our road and pavements are now ice rinks - far worse than yesterday. 

We wait until the afternoon, hoping there will be a thaw. We don our walking boots, scarves, hats, gloves; we’re ready. We make it to the other side of the road, slipping and sliding, trying to make for ice-free tyre tracks. Along the road there’s a mum and two children trying to take their dog for a walk: it’s slow, slow progress. 

So far, we’ve not negotiated any slopes, but if we go any further, it’s uphill or downhill, and we decide the risks are not worth taking, so we return - carefully - across the road. That’s our exercise for today. 

Walking gear removed, I decide I’ll try making snow bubbles. I have no bubble blowing liquid, but I improvise. And then nothing to blow bubbles through. I find a rounded square - part of some long-forgotten kitchen implement - and surprisingly it works. 

Of course, it isn’t cold enough, but I have fun photographing prisms against the frozen snow. And then I catch a reflection of our home, safe ‘inside’ the bubble. It seems appropriate. Our home - safe haven (hopefully), our shelter from the virus and the elements.