Sunday 4 February 2018

04:00 I get up early and look online. I see an email from Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen. She writes that it snowed there last night (1-2 inches or 2-5 cm).

Alison's backyard in Copenhagen this morning after the night's snowfall.

The whole thing reminds me of something similar that happened almost 11 years ago (ref: sunspot cycle perhaps?) in the US, which is a bit creepy (report from January 24, 2007, source: Onion Science and Technology).

The news site reported from Syracuse that in a rare case of ice cold January weather a large part of the North East woke up to find itself buried under almost 1.5 inches of snowfall.

"This is really bizarre," said Syracuse resident Mary Baloh, who remarked that things were going well in her garden until the unexpected weather hit. "I've seen a lot of freak weather in my lifetime, but this about tops them all, definitely."

"It's like Christmas in January," added Baloh.

According to the National Weather Service, the temperature, which fell to an exceptionally cold 31 degrees, should be at freezing point over the next several days. The bad weather conditions had forced school closures, shut down federal and state office buildings, closed municipal pools and put a damper on seasonal community activities such as barbecues and beach volleyball.

Nevertheless, a few adventurous people apparently ventured outside to frolic in the wonderfully still white scenery, bringing out cross country skis, thick boots and other accessories that were more appropriate for alpine mountains than the northeastern United States.

Flashback to January 2007: freak weather in North East USA

Authorities were recommending that citizens of the Northeast stay indoors until the streets were cleared and the situation began to normalize. Massachusetts Highway Patrol spokeswoman Chris Jarvis said the snowfall had caught their road crews completely off guard.

"When you have unexpected snow flurries like these, it's important to stay warm, dry and safe," said Jarvis. "It takes time to get all the snowplows and salt on the road because everything is in storage."

I expect that many residents at that time had their eyes glued to the television screen and the US's marvellous "weather channel". Lois and I loved watching this channel when we lived in the United States between 1982 and 1985. There was always something interesting to watch there, whenever there was nothing interesting on the normal TV channels, and we got to know the channel's top hosts well.

It's a little spooky that this freak weather should repeat itself after almost exactly 11 years, the length of the solar cycle. We are living in the last days, no doubt about that!

09:00 Lois and I talk a litttle on whatspp with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, and with her 4 and a half year old twins, Lily and Jessie.

Sarah and Francis, her husband, have spent the weekend packing their belongings up so they can start moving into their new house in Ocean Reef. Francis will pick up the keys tomorrow from the real estate agent. The family is allowed to live in their current house until Wednesday night so they have a three day deadline to complete the process. Wednesday will be the big moving day.

The twins started in their kindergarten last week, two half days on Wednesday and Friday. From tomorrow they will stay "all day", from 08:40am to 2:30pm, 3 times a week. They are growing up fast. Sarah says they are looking forward to going there again tomorrow. It is a great advantage that they can go together which makes it not nearly so scary as otherwise.

I tell Sarah that the twins will soon be coming home with an Australian accent, but she replies that there are actually a lot of Brits in the Ocean Reef suburb, so the jury is still out on that one.

Lily and Jessie on Saturday, at "Loch McNess" near Perth

12:00 We have lunch and afterwards Lois has to go out. She wants to attend her Church's Sunday service this afternoon in the library in the middle of Tewkesbury. I have a little alone time and I go to bed for a gigantic afternoon nap.

15:30 I get up and Lois comes back from Tewkesbury.

17:00 I jump up on my exercise bike and cycle 6 miles (10km). The fitness cycle is in Sarah's old room, where it is very cold until 6pm when the central heating starts to work. Lois has had the idea of moving an electric blow heater into the room 20 minutes before I start cycling - brilliant idea by the way. Kudos, Lois!

18:00 We have dinner and talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen.

We talk a little on Skype with Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen

Next week is the school's winter holiday. The family will be leaving on Thursday for a skiing holiday in Austria. On their way they will stay in Rostock (first night) and Munich (2nd night). Their good friends, the Anglo-Danish Andersen family (Rob, Emma and their 2 children), are travelling from England to meet up with Alison's family in Austria. The two families will stay in a holiday home owned by Rob's brother. A fun and exciting winter holiday is in prospect, I know that for sure.

As usual, it's Alison who has the exciting news. Lois and I are just two old crows, but we try our best keep the British end up (copyright James Bond), no doubt about that!

21:00 We watch a little television. An interesting documentary is on, all about the famous painting, Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring' and other paintings done by Vermeer and other Dutch painters of the 17th century, whose paintings one can see exhibited in the Mauritshuis Art Gallery.

"Pearly Girly", as Lois and I call her, depicts a young European girl with an ultramarine and white scarf, and a turban with a shiny yellow piece of fabric, which cascades down her back. She is wearing a brown-yellow jacket with a white collar. The collars are mirrored in a small pearl ear-ring that lights up the center of the image. The bead is painted with a few strokes - a sparkling central focus for the picture. The girl is facing to the side with her head turned, looking over her shoulder at the viewer. Her mouth is a little open, as if to imply she is speaking to us. The earring's backdrop is dark, so that the ear can be better illuminated.

Everyone likes to look at Vermeer's beautiful girl, including Lois and me. But we like her not just because of her beauty and sexy charm. We are both history fans and this image is one of the few pictures where we can really imagine looking at someone who lived hundreds of years ago, while they look back at us. We feel we are standing in the same room as her, all looking at each other. The whole thing reminds us that people have always been people, just like us.

22:00 We go to bed. I read 12 pages of my bedtime book, "The Quantum Astrologers Handbook", before I drift off to sleep - zzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser en mail fra Alison, vores datter i København. Hun skriver, at det sneede der i går aftes (1-2 inches eller 2-5 cm).

Alisons baghave i København i morges efter nattens snefald.

Det hele minder mig om noget lignende, der skete for næsten 11 år siden (solpletcyklen?) i USA, hvilket er lidt uhyggeligt (rapport den 24. januar 2007, kilde: Onion Science and Technology).

Nyhedswebstedet rapporterede fra Syracuse, at i et sjældent tilfælde af iskoldt januarvejr vågnede en stor del af nordøsten for at finde sig begravet under næsten 1,5 tommer snefald.

"Dette er virkelig bizart," sagde Syracuse beboeren Mary Baloh, der bemærkede, at der gik rigtig godt i sin have, indtil det uventede vejr ramte. "Jeg har set en masse freak vejr i min levetid, men det topper dem alle, helt sikkert."

"Det er som jul i januar," tilføjede Baloh.

Ifølge National Weather Service skulle temperaturen, som var faldt ned til en usædvanligt kolde 31 grader, skulle ligge i frysepunktet i løbet af de næste flere dage. De dårlige vejrtilstander havde tvunget skoleaflysninger, lukket føderale og statslige kontorbygninger, lukket kommunale pools og lagt en dæmper på fælles sæsonaktiviteter som grill og beachvolleyball.

Ikke desto mindre vovede nogle få eventyrlige personer sig udenfor for at lave sjov i den underligt stille hvide scene, hvor man fremdrog langrendskis, tykke støvler og andet tilbehør, der var mere passende til alpine klipper end det nordøstlige USA.

Myndigheder anbefalede, at borgerne i det nordøstlige opholdt sig indendørs, indtil gaderne kunne ryddes og situationen begyndte at normalisere sig. Massachusetts Highway Patrol talsmanden Chris Jarvis sagde, at snefaldet havde helt overreumplet deres vejbesætninger.

"Når du har uventede lette snebøger som disse, er det vigtigste at forblive varm, tør og sikker", sagde Jarvis. "Det tager lidt tid at få alle snepløerne og saltet på vejen, fordi alt er i opbevaring."

Jeg forventer, at mange beboere dengang havde øjene klæbet fast til tv-skærmen og USAs videundlige ”Vejrkanal”. Lois og jeg elskede at kigge på denne kanal, da vi boede i USA mellem 1982 og 1985. Der var altid noget interessant at se på, når der ikke var noget interessant på de normale tv-kanaler, og vi lærte kanalens topværter godt at kende.

Det er lidt uhyggeligt, at dette freak vejr gentager sig efter næsten nøjagtig 11 år, længden af solpletcyklen. Vi lever i de sidste dage, ingen tvivl om det!

09:00 Lois og jeg taler lidt på whatspp med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien og med hendes 4,5-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie.

Sarah og Francis, hendes mand, har brugt weekenden på at pakke deres ejendele ind, så de kan starte at flytte ind til deres nye hus i Ocean Reef. Francis vil hente nøglerne i morgen fra ejendomsmægleren. Familien er tilladt at bo i deres nuværende hus indtil ønsdag aften, så de har en tre dages frist til at fuldende processen. Ønsdag bliver den store flyttedag.

Tvillingerne startede i deres børnehave sidste uge, to halve dage i ønsdags og fredags. Fra i morgen skal de blive ”hele dagen”, nemlig fra 08:40 til 14:30, 3 gange om ugen. De vokser op hurtigt. Sarah siger, at de glæder sig meget til at gå igen i morgen. Det er en stor fordel, at de kan gå sammen, hvilket gør det slet ikke så skræmmende, som ellers.

Jeg siger til Sarah, at tvillingerne snart vil komme hjem med en australsk accent, men hun svarer, at der er mange briter i Ocean Reef-forstaden, så det er juryen stadig ude om!

Lily (til højre) og Jessie i lørdags, på ”Loch McNess” nær Perth

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter skal Lois ud. Hun ønsker at deltage i sin kirkes gudstjeneste, der finder sted i eftermiddag på biblioteket midt i byen Tewkesbury. Jeg har lidt alenetid, og jeg går i seng for at tage en gigantisk eftermiddagslur.

15:30 Jeg står op og Lois kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury.

17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og cykler 6 miles (10km). Kondicyklen er i Sarahs gamle værelse, hvor der er meget koldt indtil kl 18, når centralvarmen begynder at arbejde. Lois har haft idéen om at rykke en elektrisk varmeblæser ind i værelset 20 minutter før jeg begynder at cykle – brilliant idé for øvrigt. Ros til hende!

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og taler lidt på Skype med Alison, vores datter i København.

Vi taler lidt med Alison, vores datter i København

Næste uge er skolens vinterferie. Familien skal tage af sked på torsdag for at holde skiferie i Østrig. På vej overnatter de i Rostock (første aften) og München (2. aften). Deres gode venner, familien Andersen (Rob, Emma og deres 2 børn), rejser fra England for at mødes med Alisons familie i Østrig. De to familier skal bo i en ferielejlighed ejet af Robs bror. En sjov og spændende vinterferie er i vente, ved jeg med sikkerhed.

Som sædvanligt er det Alison, der har de spændende nyheder. Lois og jeg er bare to gamle krager, men vi prøver vores bedste, ingen tvivl om det!

21:00 Vi ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om det berømte maleri, Vermeers ”Pigen med perleørering” og andre værker malet af Vermeer og andre hollandse malere af perioden (17. århundrede), hvis malerier man kan se udstillede i Mauritshuis-kunstgalleriet.

”Pige med perleørering” forestiller en ung europæisk pige med et ultramarint og hvidt tørklæde, eller en turban med et lysende gult stykke stof. Det falder ned langs hendes ryg. Hun er iført en brun-gul jakke med hvid krave (eller et stykke tøj under jakken, der stikker op, og står i stærk kontrast til jakken og billedets mørke baggrund). Kraven spejles i en lille perleørering, der lyser op i billedets centrum. Perlen er malet med få strøg – som et funklende centrum i billedet. Pigen står med siden til med drejet hoved, og kigger over skulderen på beskueren. Munden er en anelse åben, som for at antyde tale. Øreringens omgivelser er mørke, hvorved øreringen lyser mere op.

Alle kan godt lide at kigge på Vermeers skønne pige, også Lois og jeg.  Men vi kan godt lide hende ikke bare på grund af sin skønhed og sexede charme. Vi er begge to historie-fans, og dette billede er ét af de få billede, hvor man virkelig kan forestille sig, at man ser på nogen, der levede for hundredvis af år siden, mens de ser tilbage på os. Vi står i samme rummet som hende, og kigger på hinanden. Det hele minder os om, at folk altid har været folk ligesom os.

22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg læser 12 sider af min sengetidbog, ”The Quantum Astrologers Handbook”, før jeg glider over i søvnen – zzzzzzzz!!!!!