A Postcard Home

I've titled this 'A Postcard Home' because it reminds me of some old First World War postcards I've got that my grandfather sent home to my grandmother from France. The messages are typical of the time, full of good cheer and 'chin-up' sentiments, no doubt written in the midst of unimaginable misery. When it is as cold as it is now I often think of people who are exposed to these temperatures much of the time. I guess they can become adjusted, and nowadays we keep the worst at bay, but for soldiers slugging it out in damp and freezing trenches, poorly clothed and fed, many miles from home and family, it must have been hell. Anyway - this was taken in central Edinburgh this afternoon - bitterly cold again and leaden under a featureless sky.

LARGE