October 19 - Day 148.5 - 'Every path hath a puddle.' George Herbert

This morning was grim. The picture sums up how I felt at various stages and definitely what I looked like when I arrived at the Centre. As I looked out of the window this morning, I would have been tempted to get in the car and extend the challenge another day but with things planned for Thursday it seemed unfair and a bit pathetic on my part.

So, cycling to work I kept reminding myself it is supposed to be a challenge and as the mornings and evenings get darker and the temperatures lower, the thought of people without housing, heating and regular food this winter definitely made me feel like I was being grumpy about nothing. After all, once at work I could get changed and place all my wet clothes on a warm radiator. The things many of us take for granted.

With puddles stretching right across the roads and some car drivers seemingly delighted at the prospect of splashing me from head to foot, the Bill Bryson extract came to mind,

‘By the time I had finished my coffee and returned to the streets, the rain had temporarily abated, but the streets were full of vast puddles where the drains where unable to cope with the volume of water. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you would think that if one nation ought by now to have mastered the science of drainage, Britain would be it.’

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you would think that if one nation ought by now to have mastered an effective response and solutions to poverty, inequality and homelessness, Britain would be it?