When was the last time we had a snow day?!

Well, what a crazy old day it has been! There is an awful lot of snow about. And more to come tonight.

I have to confess to thinking that the lovely weather people were somewhat over-reacting and over-stating the warnings in advance of today.But lo, I repent and have been very much proved wrong – a red weather warning for the first time in Scotland, and a truly astonishing grinding of the city to a standstill.

Daughters both truly delighted to have not only today, but tomorrow off school, as all Glasgow schools are shut.

A day like today – sudden, unexpected and totally disruptive – has made me stop and do two things.

Firstly, be very, very thankful for the basics in life that we often take for granted.

We have food in the cupboards.

The house is warm.

We have decent outdoor clothing.

We have great neighbours who look out for each other (I observed my lovely neighbours gallantly clearing and gritting our paths this morning, to have much of their endeavours undone by mid afternoon).

I work from home, so was able to be around for now-off-school-daughters.

And with that, the flexibility of re-arranging work, or catching up on emails, without the stress of travelling anywhere. For many, today has been less straightforward.

The generosity of human kind has been in evidence, and is something I am always grateful for. I chatted with a lovely lady who had been part of a team of us – all strangers – who had attempted valiantly and in vain to push a stuck car up a hill. She commented on the almost blitz spirit, people knuckling down to the bare essentials as we weather out the storm.

And in that is my second area of reflection today – what is life about, at it’s most basic?

What do we really need?

We need food, shelter, warmth.

For some, those basics are denied or not available. That is sobering indeed in these freezing conditions, and makes me humble and ashamed and conscious of what more could I be doing for those who have nothing?

And we need love, connection, purpose. To know that we have meaning, and that we are part of something.

Loneliness can be much more isolating than 6 inches of snow – what do we know of the needs of those around us? How do we seek to connect with those we love, to ensure they know they matter, to not take them for granted?

When snow stops everything, and life is stripped right back to the basics, what is left?