High Tide

At the weekend I was visiting my aunt in Taynuilt. We went down to the jetties at Loch Etive and discovered that the tide was so high it was flooding the car park and almost over the road.

One of the two jetties had been completely submerged, except for the mooring posts at the far end, which were still sticking out of the water.

The other jetty is made of stone, and it too was submerged except for a short stretch near the shore. The access road to that jetty was under a foot of water, so the jetty was impossible to us.

There were half-dozen cars parked in the car park, but there was no sign of their owners. I expect they had gone for a boat trip. Little did they realise that the high tide would arrive while they away.

Several of the cars were completely surrounded by water, and the car nearest loch had the water almost touching the floor panels.

We couldn't stay any longer to watch what would happen, and we couldn't do anything to rescue the cars.



But it strikes me that for some people, Christmas arrives in a similar manner. We think it is far off, and gradually it creeps up on us, until we are immersed in all the happenings.

It can catch us by surprise, and as a result we don't get any time to think about what is happening. There is only time for panic!

This week the Climate Summit is happening in Copenhagen. Let us urge our politicians to take the issues seriously and to act with urgency and determination to minimise the impact.

The sea is rising, Christmas is coming, get yourselves ready now!