Doris

[poliphilo]

When did Doris become a comedy name? Is it all down to Doris Day? Most classical Greek names have a certain fizz to them but Doris is as flat as week old lemonade.

Anyway, Storm Doris is here. Winds of 94 mph have been recorded and commensurate damage done, but not locally, I think. Here it just got a bit noisy. Later I'll have a stroll round the fields to see if anything substantial has been broken. We were expecting Julia to come and do some gardening but she's stayed away; sensible woman.

Comments

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Taking precautions in case of a weather warning is... Well, it's the sensible thing to do! A teacher at my high school was killed because he drove out in a storm and his car was hit by a falling tree...

Not doing gardening in potentially dangerous weather seems very sensible - but then, she does generally sound like a sensible woman from your description of her.

(And Doris is heading our way - though in a diminished capacity - so I've battened down the hatches and prepared myself for another night where howling winds might keep me awake. I have filled chocolates and herbal tea!)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Last time I checked there'd been one fatality caused by the current storm.

I decided to have a bonfire mid-afternoon- which wasn't terribly sensible. My fuel blew everywhere.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

A few days after I moved from Houston there was a big torrential downpour. I joked about it, saying "aprés moi, le déluge" - and then my then-husband checked me, pointing out that 9 people had died in the flooding. That made the wit sound less funny...

And of course when Denmark was hit by a storm in 2013 many people were making jokes about it, posting pictures of knocked-over garden furniture as evidence of the "disaster" while some of us knew that we had personal belongings that were most likely destroyed. (We had 2ft of water above the floor level in our weekend home, and the flooding was entirely due to a strong wind that forced water into the fjord.)

I have so much respect for weather now. Perhaps even too much - I guess it could be classified as a mild case of PTSD. I check weather warnings daily, keep a store of non-perishable foods and water, make sure my car always has enough petrol to get me off this island... (If the power goes, so does my water pump - so I'm not being completely "end of the world" by preparing like this. We can all live without electricity, but without a water?)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Our weather in Britain famously changes from day to day- so it makes sense to keep abreast of the reports. This morning the sun has come out- and we have an hour or two free later on and I'm thinking a run down to the sea would be nice.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I do love the British weather... As long as it doesn't kill people. It's like my own climate where sunny days matter more because you just don't know when the clouds will roll in. Yesterday's weather was a strong gale accompanied by rain, then it snowed overnight and today is a balmy and sunny day where I can sit outside without a jacket.

(And I'm desperately looking forward to my summer holiday this year; sunny Scotland! And not even the Highlands or anything fancy like that, but a small village in the South-East. I expect to return from that vacation with a glorious "farmer tan", wet clothes and blisters on my feet.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I haven't travelled extensively in Scotland but I had a brief holiday once in the South East- taking in places like Dunfermline and St Andrews and the pretty little fishing ports of the Fife coast. It's a beautiful part of the country.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I meant South-West, actually...

I've booked two weeks in Wigtown in Galloway - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7908227 - and I rather look forward to seeing the South-West since I mainly know Aberdeenshire. (I don't think I've ever been further south than Glasgow, actually!)

(Also: Me messing up East and West bodes well for when I have to drive down to Wigtown from Glasgow Airport... Who knows where I'll end up? Maybe back in Aberdeen?)