To survive the Winter

Gosh, I love winter! People who know me would say it’s very typical for me, cause I don’t like warm weather
Why do I like it? Most probably because in such winters like this one it’s white around, it’s not wet, it’s not very cold, you can skate, ski, fish on ice, see the footprints of animals during the hunting etc…
Ok, I know I’m not very much the same as the others, who mostly prefer summer. And I know some more people who would disagree with me – DRIVERS!
Yes, I’m not a driver, but here’s what I heard lately…

Well, I guess not only Latvia, but almost all the Europe has experienced a real winter this year. If here, in Latvia, we were waiting for a winter like this – with lots of snow and good weather for winter activities, this year’s cold has become a real nightmare for rest of the Europeans…
I have a couple of friends who are drivers in Ireland and I’ve heard that they somehow have to work more during such a weather, cause the local drivers are simply scared of such roads! It means – more work for our guys! You are the best!
Haven’t talked to anyone in England, however as I have read in the news, the situation there is even critical, as well as in some parts of Germany. Poor road services have run out of salt to sieve the roads! And salt distributors are not capable to supply such amounts as needed… So in this case The British transportation office, for example, has issued an advice what to do, when starting a trip in such a weather: to put on warm clothes, to have some warm food and drink with you, to have some water, some torch and, of course, the spade! One one hand – perfect advice! On the other hand – can’t people really think by themselves? OK, I understand that the situation is not usual for Britain, but does it mean that people have stopped thinking?
At least I have a safe feelings about our people out there – they are thinking by themselves! And even if the water pipes freeze, they will not wait for someone to come and TRY to solve the problem.. A Latvian can do it himself!

But what happens here, in Latvia… Well, even if we are pretty much short of money, I suppose we still have some salt… And will have, if only….
Last night I was talking to a friend of mine – a driver of a bus. And then he started to tell me about all the mess he can see on our roads. I got to know, that our road services do their best to sieve the salt and other ice-melting chemicals on the roads… however, there is one big BUT! They do it, when the temperatures are pretty below zero, so it means, that the salt just can’t melt all the ice and snow. In result, the roads are like this – the upper layer is kind of water, but underneath the water there is pure ice! As my friend said – even the best tires won’t help in such situations! And the other thing my friend asked – Are there really no more road experts who can think about this or is it only drivers who can think logically?
But then he told me even something more surprising. He told that in some rural areas the road services just CAN’T mix the salt with the sand if… if the sand is not taken from quarries certified by EU! What the F..k? It means that they have to put people’s life at risk only because the Brussels won’t let them take sand from, let’s say, backyard gravel wad?

Anyway, I think that despite all this, we’ll somehow survive this winter… because We are used to dress warmly (well, maybe not me), we know that we can buy winter tires, we can even check the cleanliness of the road on internet… And pretty many of the drivers HAVE a spade in a car… all year round!

Well, at least I don’t need a spade… if only to clean the pond and to skate whenever I want! And don’t worry, mam, my feet are always warm! :)

Ireland - the land of my "dreams"

I just came back from Ireland – the „green island” that used to be the land of my dreams!
I might say I used to be obsessed with Ireland some 10 years ago: Celtic and Irish music, poetry, nature, art, weapons, jewelery, tattoos, beer… Almost everything! I even had a thought of learning Gaelic without any need to use it in the future! Later on, when taking some quiz, Ireland was named the country where I should live.
This was the second time I visited Ireland and I realized that SOMETHING HAS CHANGED!

I still love all the things I mentioned above, but somehow my attitude has changed and I wouldn’t say this is my dream country any more. Why?

During this week I spent in Ireland, I didn’t see much of all the things I like, but I saw some things from the real life not just from imaginations. Probably not from the point of view of an Irishman, but from a point of a tourist and from the point of some Latvians who live there.
I had a chance to have a ride around Dublin region without concentrating on cultural objects. So I paid attention to some other things: I saw a lot of nice houses and farms, but at the same time I saw a lot of ugly architecture (I mean REALLY UGLY) and a lot of mess around these houses. I saw a lot of luxurience and vulgarity at the same time. But that’s ok – every country can „BE PROUD” of such things as well!
But I guess the people impressed me the most! And not in the best way! Didn’t have a chance to meet much of them, but got the impression for sure. It seems that they just don’t care about anything, about the way things look around them… and the way they look themselves! Probably the only thing they do care about is pub and few pints of beer… I also heard a lot of stories about the attitude of authorities towards different groups of people and believe me, it seems that there is even a bigger mess than in Latvia, but all of this is worth a longer story or even a research.
Despite all this, from now on I will respect more and more those Latvians who have gone there working and living. Because they are not getting everything from the ”RIVERS OF MILK AND HILLS OF PORRIDGE”. Their bread comes out from the sweat and sometimes tears. But despite all this they struggle… And that makes me respect them even more! And specially the young people, who have to adapt to the cruel reality of Irishness!
Yes, THE REALITY IS CRUEL! As everywhere, I guess…

And I don’t think that everything I saw during last week will make me love „Clannad” less or adore „Lady of Shalott” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson less. However, I don’t think that I will consider moving to Ireland to live or work in the nearest future… But I’m looking forward to going there again… soon – to see more!

P.S. Well, maybe just shopping is worth going there! Even if I hate it…