One might wonder why..there have been such sporadic entries of late..
Simply put.. there has been so little of substance to record..
We have entered a period of almost worldwide ennui.. The political and diplomatic machines grind away.. Europe breathes for the moment with no change in the underlying problem, perhaps with a few anxious eyes towards the next default date for Greece, Portugal, and Ireland..
Mind you.. all in all it's become a situation that we.. those of us on this island.. are inured to.. We have a Prime Minister who has distanced us from the substance of the Euro crisis.. and while this has prompted some anti-British rhetoric from some French Ministers.. this taken with a smile.. They're only French, after all..
This is the center of the cyclone.. the calm between the anxiety of Christmas and the unbridled binge which is Hogmanay..
People aren't talking much about 2012.. We're walking blind into a fog of uncertainty and seem to be managing with some aplomb.. it's all exceedingly British, and one would truly have to observe it for a while, to make out the 'attitude' which imbues Brits.. from football hooligans to investment bankers.. there is this ineffable intangible sense of the ability to take whatever will come.
They may well be grey.. and will certainly turn greyer yet..
But despair doesn't seem to be on the agenda.

There is one international story which jumps out..
Now Canada's a pretty tolerant nation, as nations go.. and SouthWestern Ontario, the area stretching from Toronto to Windsor, is usually a paragon of stereotypical Canadian good manners and reservation..
But.. An issue is about to make a tempest in a teapot..
Bluewater, or Sarnia-Lambton County.. has raised an 'issue'..
The decades-old routine of handing out free Gideon Bibles in public schools has sparked renewed passions amid complaints the practice is discriminatory and no longer has a place in a secular education system.. This, after after a parent's objection led to the discovery the board had no policy on the issue...
Word that Bluewater officials were reviewing the practice in order to come up with a policy provoked a torrent of support for continuing the tradition..
“I'm not even a Gideon.. I'm just a concerned Christian parent in a country that's still 70 per cent Christian,” said Rev. Mark Koehler, pastor at First St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Hanover, Ont.. He continues.. “We've taken prayer out of school. We can't say certain greetings at Christmas time. We don't want further erosion of our Christian faith and heritage to happen.”..
Surely to whatever God there might be.. this particular 'issue' diminishes to insignificance when all the rest of the problems we face are considered..
Sometimes, you just have to shake your head..

It's becoming glaring evident.. the grey.. grey infusing the weather.. the landscape.. the faces of those on the bus..
Xmas is nearly upon us.. and already the desperation is beginning to
overshadow the some what forced outward show of increasing bonhomie and peace among men..
Those who might actually be content with their upcoming celebrations are rolling past those in the queues for their damp ride home.. comfortable in their particular peculiar existence, complete with at the very least, a BMW..
This Europe situation actually has the man on the street worried.. the extent varies from each to each.. but we know that should Europe disintegrate both financially and as a coherent entity tied by the €.. then the financial upheaval would be a virtual European Fukashima quake.. with the epicenter in France.. utter chaos..
Now there are some saying that this is not yet irretrievable.. the the European Central Bank could support bond issues.. But judging by the response of a German offering which sold something like 60% of the issue.. keeping in mind these were offering only 1.9% over ten years.. what economic gain is going to be gleaned by buying paper that could well be useless well before maturity..?
Grey.
The quiet resignation that what will need to be done, will be done.. even if it's a night out once a week.. a dinner with the girlfriend every fortnight.. they can be replaced with an evening cuddling on the couch in front of the telly..
It's that obvious.. the dimming of the ambition.. the preparation to accept what one has and what's more, to be damned happy to at least have that..
Britain is assuming yet another 'wartime mentality'..
We know, to put it bluntly, the excreta is about to hit the fan, and we are equally aware we are, each of us, individually, are powerless to stop it..
Time to find pleasures in the simpler things again..
Grey.
The faces on the bus, that is.. or the Tube.. or the commuter train..