Tuesday, 12:30pm, footy, and without fail the weather is on our side, so quite a shocker to make the short stroll to the changing rooms in the snow. No-one in too much of a hurry to open their kit bags. Concensus was for a pitch inspection. Here now, I thought, may as well have a runaround if only for five minutes.

Pulled on my two white T-shirts and headed outside: man, that's cold. Group decision not to play but found one of the opposition ready and willing to kick my Mitre Calcio back and forth. And waddya know, slowly joined by another madman, and then someone else, until we eventually had most players on the snowy pitch.

As the none-too-serious game went on, I slowly lost most sensation in my hands, entering Touching The Void territory. Not a good time to then discover one of my laces had become untied. Clunk, went my memory banks: I remember turning out for my cub football team at the local rec, getting similarly frozen and being unable to tie the lace on my boot.

Forward several hours and The Boy is telling me about running around in the snowy stuff at morning break, singing this song:

Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?
I'm halfway down the loo now
If you flush the chain
I'll go to Spain
Flying on a chocolate aeroplane

Makes him laugh.