I’m getting properly Scrooged up this year, even more than normal. Here we are less than two weeks from Christmas and I just can’t be bothered with it. Partly, this is down to the annoyance of Christmas songs, that usually have me sick of Christmas even before December arrives. The other reason is that I’m getting old, and Christmas comes around far too quickly for my liking now. So, I’m going to give it a miss this year. Roll on Christmas 2014! I’ll celebrate that one instead.

A certain romance to driving in the dusk

Of course, my mood is not helped by the long nights and short periods of anything approaching natural light. I love driving, but even I struggle to enjoy it in the dark. Observation is everything to me when driving, and that gets that much harder in the dark. How can I scan half a mile ahead up the road when it’s completely dark? Perhaps I need to become one of those strange people who bolts about twenty extra lamps to their Land Rover. I might melt the tarmac, but I might also be able to see where I’m going.

That said, there’s  a certain romance to barreling along on an illuminated motorway at night, or cruising along at pace as dusk falls. I quite like to do that, but have to drive for two hours just to find a motorway, and even further to find a bit that lights up. Generally though, I find winter is not a great time for the motor enthusiast. The cold conditions make working on cars seem rather less enjoyable and if you like a clean car, best put it away in October until April. Road muck is disgusting during the winter months. Then there’s the battle against frost and the car wanting to steam up so much. Things got so bad recently that I went to Kwik Fit to get the air-con on the Sirion fixed. Air-con is brilliant I’ve decided. It massively boosts demisting power.

Night makes for great photos sometimes

I can sometimes force myself to enjoy Night with a burst of photography. You can get some really good effects, like this Rover 75 interior shot, but I still prefer actual daylight. Incidentally, this shot was illuminated with the help of a simple lead-lamp if I remember correctly. It really brought out the classy details of the Rover’s lovely interior. I’m missing those heated seats too…

Yet, despite my hatred of driving at this time of year, we’re soon to embark on a 1200-mile round-trip to northern Scotland. At least by then, the days will  be getting longer! Forget Christmas. I’ll be celebrating December 22nd, the day AFTER the shortest day! Spring cannot come soon enough.