SOAP

Legend has it that teenagers have no affinity with soap. This is of course a complete fantasy, as any parent knows that modern teenagers must have at least one shower a day, preferably more, each involving a clean towel from the airing cupboard.  So I wonder is the acronym SOAP an ironic nod by the East Lothian Outdoor Education team to this proclivity for cleanliness? Or does it have more to do with that early morning whiff that must have hit all of them at some time when they’ve unzipped a tent stuffed with teenagers on a Duke of Edinburgh trip, to try and goad them into action?

Anyhow the Secondary Outdoor Adventure Programme run by the Outdoor Ed team is taking a group of ten Sixth Years from the county High Schools into the Scottish Highlands for a series of weekends over the course of this year. Maybe it was the attraction of building snowholes Continue reading

Apologies, sorry… more snow, cabin fever

Tara’s theme this week is White. I wasn’t going to post anything, and I know everyone’s bored of snow but… it is all so beautiful.

We’re not really snowed in but we can’t really get out.  At least, not in the car; we’re saving a lot of money on petrol.  There was a brief thaw at the weekend and the icicles regressed but the cold has come back with a vengeance this week.   The icicles are now 2m long and there’s an inaccessible glacier teetering off the gutter immediately above our phone line.  -13° C this morning.  I know that’s not really cold, in the global scheme of things, but Continue reading