That my Footsteps Slip Not

Doesn’t this remind you of one of those hot days from last July?

In fact I took it on 25^th December. Having attended chapel, I proceeded through Bowland for my Christmas dinner. The temperature had risen four degrees to zero by the time I snapped it, but the air still had an arctic bite. With the car’s heaters blasting out at full capacity, it felt like a different time of year. As soon as I opened a window, I received a pert reminder of my correct location on the calendar.

There was a fair bit of ice on the roads. Only once did I skid, and not far. That week, I’d had fitted some winter tyres, and I was keen to try them. I still proceeded with caution, driving slowly and in a high gear as I passed over the narrow road’s frozen sheens. This I photographed just over the trough:

The picture below doesn’t do the sharp drop justice. It was far scarier in the car than it now appears.

It might have been a sunny, happy holiday, a season of ease and leisure, and good will to all men, but my car could have still slidden, inhabiting a ditch. Winter tyres are good, but on ice they are little better than standards. Be careful as you go through life. The sun might shine and you might be at ease, but look out for hidden lubricant and steep ditches, lest you fall and not recover:

Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. Psalm 17:5