Hope springs...

I feel like I should be holding my breath and knocking on wood and crossing my fingers, toes and eyes while I say this, like some kind of Dick Van Dykian one-man-band of superstitions...but it seems to have finally stopped snowing. It's been almost forty hours now without anything worse than a flurry, and, though I hesitate to bring the curse of the universe down upon myself by saying it, I think we may finally be out of the woods.

This relief has given new energy to my fellow Edinburghers, who can be seen out and about enjoying the snow in a way they haven't since the very first day this whole ordeal began. Granted, cabin fever and carbo loading might have something to do with the frenetic energy to be observed in parks around town (honestly, there is not a loaf of bread left anywhere in the city--even salad croutons are nowhere to be found) I choose to believe that such lightheartedness springs from the eternal renewal of human hope, peace on earth and good will toward men and all that.

Oot and aboot agin

Or it could be coming from the fact that the entire city now finds it seasonally and socially acceptable to drink spiked hot cocoa at any hour of the day. And these are liberal spikes, no wee tipples, but hearty floods for "getting fou and unco happy," as Robbie Burns would say. Scots may be flummoxed by snow, but they certainly know how to keep warm.

This is mostly Bailey's.

So things are looking up: snow has stopped, sweet sweet boozing has started, papers are almost finished (perhaps I should switch the order of those last two). And soon I will be coming home for Christmas!