Changing Years.

Its amazing how the world changes in such a short space of time.

10 years ago christmas was always snow covered, 15 years ago the snow was inches deeper. Those are the times I remember as being festive, when I would go out and play in the snow with my mates for hours on end, coming in soaking wet, usually from the odd cut where some fucker had got a bit of ice in one of his malicious snowballs or our careless sledging down a hill in unpredictable woods ended abruptly with a hidden tree stump.

Nowdays it doesnt seem to snow at all, christmas is autumn warm. The snow used to be inches thick, now if it does snow, usually in February, its a light smattering which melts at the faintest dawn of new year light. The cities that once hosted massive illuminations over the christmas period now draw a pointless blank, unable to afford anything but a solitary christmas tree as the downward economy hits us, no longer able to sustain the merriments that once helped make it so popular.

The homeless, an ever increasing number seem to appear even on the deserted main streets, if the police take one away another fills his place, begging for change and swearing at those that dont answer,
Cleanliness of the streets makes the beggars seem more apparent, litter is not a problem in the area, much has been spent on bland cleanliness, though the absolute sterility seems like a purposeful dent on a historic city.

The downturned faces of office workers, a picture of misery on the unending majority, with an occasional self inflated manager wading through the drab crowd in his own self imposed dream of his life. Groups of tourists stand out with their unending enthusiasm for ancient stone and mortar built in centuries past, they point out flagstones and buildings in amazement, though such trifling objects have long faded into the dull listless background in the minds of the dead eyed residents.

A flooding by the undredged river makes its annual appearance above the banks of the ouze, covering the unfortunate buildings that have yet failed to succumb to the ever rising levels of a river unmaintained. Its constant flow a heavy reminder to the pure unstoppability of the force contained by such a beautiful rippling flow of liquid. The water glinting on each rise in the fading glow of a sun that has barely left the horizon in keeping with the season.

And I ask myself, why?