ya nae wanna slip him ...

The headline said "Snow Chaos". I threw on my parka (so glad our shipment finally arrived!), hiking boots and went outside with Belle. It was a bit like a winter wonderland, sort of what we in Canada would see in November - all white and new, the snow like a sprinkling of icing sugar. 

One thing that was very different was the population: no speeding, no slipping on sidewalks, no car accidents. Everything seemed very orderly, very British. In the park, they were even putting down sand on the paths proactively something I have never seen before. 

It's been snowing on and off all week and it's been lovely. A light dusting, all very pretty and not too cold with most of it melted by the afternoon. The Links & Meadows, where we walk most days, have all kinds of snow people: men, women, families. I counted five different groups making snowmen while we were there.

Belle loves this weather, even if it's very windy, she'll romp for as long as I can take it. As we were sliding home from the park, me tugging at the unwilling pup's leash, an older gentleman saw us, "careful now, ya nae wanna slip him..." 

another language

Happy New Year! Hello Year of the Ox! Happy Belated Robbie Burns Day!

I've been pretty out of it for the past couple of weeks since we've had a steady stream of house guests since returning from Ireland. To quote Carla from Top Chef "my zen is zonked".

But, life goes on and, in addition to everything else going on, we are contemplating buying a car. I know! surprises me too. So, we've got to figure out the hows and wherefores of the parking permit. Now this is not difficult by any standards: call a number, get transferred, have the process explained to you, etc. Then I asked directions to the office to pick up the form.

The office is just off the Royal Mile, which is easy enough. And then the woman on the phone said something about the office being near the budgies. Budgies? What budgies? Clearly I misunderstood  - unless there are wild budgies around here that I have yet to find and boy! wouldn't visitors enjoy seeing wild budgies? There can do a whole festival around the budgies, this would be a great tourist attraction, no? Anyhoodle, I did ask her three times to repeat herself and there are only so many times you can say "pardon me" without coming across a little slow. So, I said "right then" and hung up and have been wondering what budgies could possibly mean.

It took Peter 24 hours to guess that she meant the bridges.

Welcome to life among the Blue People

I am a pale person. I have never tanned, any colour on my face is usually the result of too much sun and quite painful. Many people over the years have told me that my lack of colour is basically a lack of discipline: if I worked at it, spent time and money, I too could get a healthy colour. Explaining that I have tried sunless tanning, baby oil, "natural looking" bronzers, vitamin A and that I lived in Africa (where, surely, I was exposed to enough of the "right kind" of sun) all to my detriment and; that, in my 30s i have accepted myself and am ok with the skin G-d has given me, is not acceptable to these people. My natural pallor indicates that I am sedentary, "sun paranoid" and probably unhealthy.

Until now.

Moving to Edinburgh has been a revelation on many fronts. I have realized that American television production values are really the best in the world, that internet access means something else entirely in Europe and, that a "heated" apartment is a radically different concept in Canada. The revelation that has comforted me the most is that I now live among a pale people.

Now, obviously, there are people of colour here - Edinburgh is not a completely white society. Many salons have tanning beds, spray tans and "fake bake" for those who want to wander the darkened streets looking like they just came back from Ibiza. There is also a home grown industry that takes people to the sun filled and sexy Euro destinations, so who knows? Maybe these tans were earned the righteous way: on a beach.

For me, it's the relief of knowing that, this summer, I will not be alone in my pale-ness. People will not come up to me in the super market and ask me if I'm sick because of my pallor; I will not be accused of not liking fresh air because I don't want to sit in the sun at noon; explaining to people that I don't want to walk on the sunny side of the street? asking for a shady spot on a terrace? doesn't matter! it's all shady! and we're so far north that any sun will only contribute to my Vitamin D intake.

I was speaking to a native of Edinburgh today and told him how exciting I found the fact that everybody looked like me. He smiled, laughed and said "ah yes, welcome to life among the blue people". and here I am.