First frost & the summer that never was.

I wonder if waking to the news that Americans have elected their first black president, with a name which could hardly be less Americana, Barack Hussein Obama, will be one of those moments of such great change that the green glow of the clock radio and it's not quite tuned fuzz will be cemented in my mind like 9/11. It was a bit amusing that while there appeared to be no problems in streaming Mr Obama's acceptance speech, trying to watch highlights of Lewis Hamilton taking the F1 world championship by coming 5th in the Brazilian Grand Prix I kept coming up against "the server is busy".

Since last time I wrote winter has begun in earnest. With the clocks set back an hour, while it's lighter in the mornings it's dark by about 5:00, 4:30 when it's overcast. I'm glad to have double-glazing and good heating. I found myself wondering who broke the ice on the puddles at the stations cycle racks the other morning and who sprinkles salt on the train platforms. I've learnt how painful cold ears can be while cycling when you forget you beanie and likewise with fingers without gloves. It even snowed the other night, not here in Cambridge but there would have been about a foot of snow just north of London that I saw out the window of the train. As un-seasonal it was it lasted two days.

Having made a decision to forgo four hours of commuting a day, with the support of a loving (and employed) partner I'm now finally seeking opportunities in Conservation. My want to work for a healthy planet is nothing new but finding where to finally clip my piece of the puzzle into place has been and is an ongoing process. Without taking this puzzle analogy too far my picture is still fuzzy, my shape still poorly formed and colors still watery, perhaps it's best that it stays that way. Anyway for the time being I've been fortunate to be able to draw a line-in-the-sand from a career perspective and shake off the feeling that I was risking pigeon-holing myself into in an area away from where my passion lies. And what better time to do it than whilst on the other side of the world, with a temporary visa, in the middle of a global financial crisis? Hmmm.

Peace.