Ginger Update

I took Ginger back to the vet this evening. He is still refusing to eat any fish and I was worried since he hadn't eaten for two and a half days. It was a bit of a frustrating visit, I must say. I was not seen by the vet who I usually go to, but instead was received by her son. So, I had to explain Ginger's case to him and then listen while he virtually lectured me about how some cats just happen to have soft stools and if he were a garden cat we would be none the wiser of his condition for his entire life. I explained as evenly as I could that the condition of my cat's bowels is not normal and he did not have this problem until only fairly recently. Anyhow, we went over Ginger's history and reviewed his records and they have decided to put him back on WD. This is the food he was eating when we first moved to England. It's a prescription diet, so I can only get it through the vet. After my initial visits one and a half years ago to this vet surgery I had been advised to take him off WD. They said there was no reason for Ginger to be on WD and that he could eat anything he wants. Well, apparently, he can't. At least that is how it appears to be. We shall see how things go once he is back on WD -- I have it on order from the vet. In the meantime I am feeding him home cooked chicken. He is gobbling it up.

Dacre Walls Walk

Today the Thursday Ramblers revisited Dacre Parish for the Dacre Walls Walk. I had been very impressed with this walk last year. We encountered so much Dales history as we traversed farmers' fields and climbed over stone walls. Today's walk presented some new challenges. I think we encountered our most muddy conditions ever. Several of us went ankle deep into the muck while others sunk up to mid-shin level. Oftentimes there was a puddle of mud directly at the base of a stone stile making the climb over the stone wall a feat of dexterity. For not only were we dodging mud holes, we had to negotiate past electric and barbed wire fences newly erected by the farmers. And then there was the bull. Some hikers think it was just a cow, but I say it was a bull alone in a field. One of the hikers took a photo of the bull. The flash went off. The bull charged. The photographer neatly stepped out of his way, nimble as a matador. But the bull was not finished, he stamped and stewed and looked us all over with a wary eye. It took some time before we were all able to make our way, unscathed, across the field. Aside from the challenges, we also experienced a little treat. I had read about the Quaker Burial Ground that is a short detour from the Dacre Walls Walk and had requested of our hike leader that we take the detour. The burial ground was rather unassuming, just a plot of land marked off with a stone wall. The date on the stone doorway read 1682. A wooden door erected this past summer prevented us from entering the burial ground but we were able to peek over the walls to see some headstones.

Something Fishy Going On

Ginger will not eat. I went out and bought him a nice cod fillet yesterday and microwaved it just like the vet told me. All the while I was preparing it, Ginger was going wild with anticipation. I put the bowl down on the floor, he walked up to it, sniffed it and walked away. I was baffled. Normally, he gobbles fish up without hesitation. And to make matters worse, he had a little throwing up spell. Not much came out but foam. I called the vet this morning and she was a bit surprised too. They fed him cod yesterday and she said, "He slurped it up without it hitting the sides of his mouth." She said not to panic, he's probably a little out of sorts from being in the hospital for a few days. He should come around. But he wouldn't eat again tonight. Well, actually he ate a tiny little bit and then promptly threw it up. Brad has gone out to the store to buy some other fish, maybe haddock or plaice. The good thing is, that in all other respects Ginger seems fine. He is bright and alert. Last night, however, he drove me crazy. He kept crawling all over me, butting me in the face with his head. All behavior consistent with his wanting to be fed. What a puzzlement this is.

Ginger Comes Home

I just picked Ginger up from the vet. While at the vet he was a model patient. He was alert, bright-eyed and responded to strokes with purrs. The only thing wrong was the diarrhea. Let's hope it goes away SOON. He appears to be happy to be home. He spent the first fifteen minutes chattering at me, purring audibly and rubbing against my legs. He still has his diarrhea, but we now have a strategy to pursue. On the assumption that his problem is food related, the vet has recommended an all-fish diet. I'm to prepare about 100 grams of plain white fish twice a day for him. He will stay on this diet for awhile to see if his digestive problems abate. Ginger will love his new diet. He has a passionate appetite for fresh fish. I'm also to give Ginger panacur once a day for the next three days. It's a worming treatment but somehow is supposed to be good for his condition. I'm to take him back for a checkup on Friday...with a stool specimen. Ewwww!

Happy Easter

"It's a miserable ole day in 'arrygut." That's what I heard the Yorkshireman say to his little boy as I stood outside the newsagent waiting while Brad purchased the Sunday Times. And I heartily concurred. It is cold, gray and raining on and off and on again. We are both recuperating from colds. And Ginger is still in the hospital. I've been checking in on him daily and the reports are mainly good. He is bright, alert and purring. But he still has that bothersome diarrhea. The vet wants to keep him under observation and hopefully find a way to get his digestive system right.

As for our digestive systems, soon I will need to start preparing our Easter dinner. Last year we had spaghetti and meatballs. This year we are continuing that trend, though we are having lasagna -- a new recipe I found on the internet and will modify a bit. Fingers crossed it will turn out good.

Punky Purrboy

Ginger has been back and forth to the vet recently concerning a problem with his digestive system. They think he has inflammatory bowel disease. The symptoms are none too pleasant -- severe and stinky diarrhea. We have tried everything from steroids to antibiotics to several changes in food. Nothing seems to clear up his diarrhea. And yesterday the situation got a bit more worrisome as Ginger had a terrible bout of vomiting. I took him back to the vet this morning and she decided to keep him for a few days. She wants to run some more tests and keep him under observation. She seems a bit perplexed by his case. I sure hope she makes a breakthrough soon.

Displaysia

My computer monitor is on the blink. Every dark area of an image appears with bright green neon highlights. I haven't bothered to download my images of Madrid, nor have I been viewing images on my favorite website, flickr.com. I have a 21-in. flat-panel display and under normal circumstances images appear with brilliant colors and sharp resolution. I've done a bit of research on this phenomenon and the results are not very encouraging. This may be a case of dead pixels, i.e. this is an irreversible irrepairable problem. Or there may be a problem with the lightsource engine. No way I could fix that. And, sob, sniff, the display is no longer under warranty. I've sent an email off to Formac, the manufacturer, and hope they respond with some positive feedback.

A SpanAir In The Works

Our flight left at 12:45 p.m. so we had a few hours to kill in the morning. We wanted to have breakfast at Cafe Oriente again but they were closed. Our second choice, Cafe Real was also closed. We ended up in La Traviata Cafe for some mediocre coffee and croissant and were served by the only snooty person we had encountered the entire trip. After breakfast we wanted to buy some stamps for our postcards. Our map showed there were no post offices in the area, then we discovered we could buy stamps at any tobacco shop. Postage stamps in hand we went back to the hotel to check out. We caught the metro back to the airport, an easier ride this time as we were now pros at the Madrid metro. We grabbed a bite to eat after checking in and its a good thing we did because they don't serve a morsel of food or a drop of drink on SpanAir. At least not without charging you an exorbitant fee. We had a brief stop in Frankfurt where we changed planes. Just enough time to buy some German chocolate. We arrived in Manchester around 5:30 p.m. and pulled up at our place around 7 p.m. Luckily we had missed most of the afternoon rush hour traffic. Tomorrow we go to pick up Ginger from the cattery. Can't wait to see our little purrboy.

Palm Sunday in Madrid

LUNCH AT LA BOLA


MUSEO DEL JAMON

This morning we had breakfast at Cafe Oriente where we had previously enjoyed some delicious coffee. We had a typical Spanish breakfast -- coffee and croissant. I also had some excellent fresh squeezed oj. We noticed some other folks eating a savory breakfast -- toast served with side dishes olive oil and a light tomato sauce.

Our first stop was the Rastro flea market. It took us a while to find it. On the way we noticed many people walking by with palms for Palm Sunday. Once we did find the Rastro we noticed how junky it really was so did not linger.

The good thing about visiting museums in Madrid on a Sunday is that admission is free. The bad thing is that they all close at 2 p.m. So we had to hasten to fit in the two museums on our agenda for the day.

Next stop was the Museo de Cerralbo, the 18th-century mansion of the Marquis de Cerralbo, a well-travelled man who purchased art and artifacts from all over Europe for his personal collection. He donated the mansion and his entire collection to the city of Madrid. It was a true delight to wander through the mansion and view the odd assortment of treasures: paintings, statuettes, innumerable clocks, ceramics, chandeliers....

After the Museo de Cerralbo we had to hurry to our next destination, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, an interesting complement to the Cerralbo as it is housed in a 19th century palace and contains four floors of furniture and decorative arts. Among other exhibits, we saw an entire 18th-century Valencian kitchen decorated with wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling ceramic tiles.

After our museum visits we headed over to Restaurant La Bola for a late lunch. Even though we did not have a reservation we managed to secure a table in the cozy front room. The windows were draped with lace curtains and the walls adorned with photos of famous people who had eaten there. La Bola gets its fame from its house specialty cocido a la madrileña, a stew made of garbanzo beans, chicken, beef and sausages. The stew is cooked in ceramic jugs and served in stages. A bowl of cooked pasta was placed before us and the waiter poured the broth from the stew into the bowl (only after instructing us to hold our napkins up to protect us from splatters). After this first course, the rest of the stew was served. The waiter added a dollop of cooked cabbage on top and gave us a plate of pickled veggies and tomato sauce as accompaniments to the stew. It was delicious but very rich and extremely filling. Virtually everyone in the restaurant was there to eat the cocido. The room was full of lively conversation and seemed the perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

We needed a rest after such a big meal so we toddled on over to our room, luckily just around the corner from La Bola. After our siesta we caught the subway out to the Plaza de Toros. We had toyed with the idea of actually going to see a bullfight but decided against it. The bull arena was an impressive building in the moorish style. I took a bunch of pics and watched the crowd. Oddly enough it reminded me of people back home going to a ball game.

Back on the subway, we got off at the Retiro Park exit. The Parque del Retiro is a huge green space adorned with statues, a man-made lake and a crystal palace. It seemed that all of Madrid was there too, including an army of fortune tellers. We had to walk a long way before we found an empty bench to sit on.

We went back to the room for another brief rest and a chance to write some post cards. Brad turned on the TV and they were airing the bullfight live. After a few minutes I realized how glad I was that we hadn't attended in person.

I had discovered that there was a religious procession scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. the procession was the first in a week's worth of events surrounding Easter. It was 7:30 p.m. before we realized it, so we jumped up and headed out to Plaza de la Villa, on of the first stages of the procession. We got there around 7:45 and already the crowds were two deep to view the procession. We grabbed a spot that gave us a fairly good vantage point and began to wait. We waited and waited and waited. More and more people gathered for the procession. When I looked back I could not see the end of the crowd of people. By 8:45 p.m. nothing had happened. I was thinking of just leaving and wondering if we'd be able to make it through the crowd. Finally, there were signs of the procession. Six men on horseback wearing helmets topped with tall red feathers began to make their way across the plaza. The stopped and started. Stopped again. And we waited. How infuriating this was getting to be. We think we know the cause of the delay. After the Plaza de la Villa the procession had to go down a narrow street that had filled up with people. They had to clear the way for the procession to get through. Finally they started in earnest. But by this time the people in front began to move about and press together so I could barely see anything at all. I did manage to see some people dressed in floor-length black robes. They wore tall conical black hats. Their faces were covered entirely with black masks. It was a chilling sight, similar to the KKK but even more sinister looking. The procession began to falter again and I lost my patience entirely. After all I could barely see anyhow. So we managed to squeeze our way out of the crowd.

Brad wanted to go back to the Museo de Jamon for a light bite. Then we went back to the room and crashed.

Holy Toledo

TOLEDO TRAIN STATION


GROCER IN TOLEDO

We started off the day at Cafe Gijon, one of Madrid's more famous cafes where the literary set used to hang out. Our waiter was very friendly and chatted with us about the sights and customs of Madrid. Brad sampled torrija, a pastry that is only served during Lent and Easter. It's made from stale bread that is soaked in either wine or milk. It is dipped in batter and fried, flavored with cinnamon and sweetened with honey or syrup. I think Brad had the one soaked in wine -- it had a really strange flavor to it. He liked it a lot, but I wasn't crazy about it. I sampled a tortel -- a ring-shaped pastry stuffed with marzipan. We were planning to do a day trip from Madrid but could not decide on Toledo or Segovia. Our waiter convinced us to go to Toledo.

There was much confusion surrounding our ticket purchase at Atocha station. We had hoped we could just buy the tickets from a machine, but you can only do that for commuter tickets in the greater Madrid area. For destinations further away you must purchase them from a ticket vendor. The lines were really long and we got worried as our train left in less than half an hour. Finally, I caught on to an announcement in Spanish and managed to be first to jump in line at a window for Toledo-only tickets.

The scenery outside of Madrid was a bit monotonous. The landscape looked very dry. A dusty brown and beige were the dominant colors. Now and then we passed a grove of olive trees, notable for their silver-green leaves. The only spark of color were the lovely pale pink blossoms of an occasional almond tree in bloom.

After about an hour the train stopped at a station called Aldogar. We saw a lot of people getting off. We thought, "hmmmm. popular place this. must look it up in t he guide books." As it turned out, everyone needed to disembark at Aldogar to catch a bus to Toledo. The bus ride took about 20-30 minutes and when we arrived at Toledo train station, a handsome building in the Moorish architectural style. We soon realized why we had to ride the bus into town. The tracks at the station had been completely torn out for renovation. More confusion ensued as we sorted out our return ticket.

A 20-minute walk brought us to a Moorish gate into the city of Toledo. The sun was shining and the day was warming up considerably by now. Toledo was built atop a hill and the alcazar (Moorish fortress) dominates the town from a distance. We walked up many steep narrow streets and were amazed at the cars that managed to navigate the streets as wel. Unlike Madrid there were many medieval buildings made of stone. The streets were not laid out in a logical manner but seemed to twist and turn every which way. We decided to seek out an Arab tea house but were confounded many times as we tried to follow our map of the city. It was fun, nonetheless, wandering through the city. The narrow streets would suddenly open up onto a large plaza alive with activity. I popped into a bakery and purchased some delicious almond wafers. Eventually we found the tea house but, to our disappointment, it was closed. We wandered some more and found the cathedral. By this time we were very tired and hungry so we opted to have lunch before touring the cathedral. We selected a restaurant that had tables set up in a small plaza. We ordered raciones -- a larger version of tapas. We had asparagus wrapped in ham, patatas bravas (baked potato wedges served with a spicy tomato sauce and sour cream -- delicious!) and a lamb's lettuce salad with parmesan and walnuts. I was glad to finally be eating something green.

Toledo cathedral was immense and incredibly ornate. There are several El Greco paintings there, not surprising as he lived in Toledo. I thought the interior looked in remarkably good shape considering the age of the structure. We didn't have much time to browse in the cathedral as our bus out of Toledo was leaving soon. We high-tailed it over to the station and got there in good time. By then the sun was really hot and we were both drowsy on the bus ride to Aldogar station where we hopped on the train back to Madrid. We headed back to the room to rest up before venturing out again for dinner.

Dinner that was tapas. True tapas, as we had had such a filling lunch. First stop was a place called Casa Labra, one of the more popular tapas bars. They also have a sit-down restaurant, but we stayed in the bar. There were two counters in the bar -- one for ordering drinks, another for ordering food. There was a blackboard menu with a list of three tapas, several sandwiches and raciones. There were no tables only counters with a ledge to place your drink on. The three tapas available were fried pieces of cod, cod fritters and something called banderilla (I never figured out what it was). I ordered us some cod fritters while Brad purchased our beer. The fritters were tasty. All the restaurants in Madrid give you this flimsy little napkins that are kind of waxy and not absorbent at all. Everyone was tossing their napkins on the floor of Casa Labra so we joined in with the crowd. After Casa Labra we went to Museo de Jamon (Museum of Ham), a chain of tapas bars/delicatessens. We sampled some iberian ham and manchego cheese. With our order came a complimentary plate of black and green olives. All was tasty as usual.

A Day Full of Art

AT THE PRADO


CAFE DE ORIENTE

Our hotel fee does not include breakfast -- that is actually rare for hotels in Madrid. So after showering and getting dressed we hit the streets in search of a cafe for breakfast. Well we walked and walked and walked and could not find a cafe!!! We finally ended up at the Prado Museum, where we planned to go anyhow, and had coffee and a croissant at their cafe. It was actually quite good. Then we strolled through the Prado. What a wonderful museum. The rooms are chock full of old masters. Paintings that I've gazed at in books but never dreamed of seeing in person. The museum was very well lit (no glare on the paintings) and we were actually allowed to take pictures in the museum. We passed several people who were painting replicas of some of the old masters. We guess they were art students or studying to be art restorers. Brad got to see his favorite El Greco painting, The Allegory, and a new favorite by Goya of a dog. I got to see one of my favorites by Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights. One could spend hours in front of that painting, there are so many bizarred details in it. Bosch, whom the Spaniards call El Bosco, certainly had a strange imagination. After a few hours in the Prado we were ready for lunch. We walked and walked again until we found a little joint just outside the Reina Sofia museum called El Brillante. It was a typical Madrid bocadilleria (sandwich shop), we stood at a counter to eat our sandwiches. There were no tables at all in the joint. The sandwiches were very good. I had a Tortilla Espanol and Brad had a Chorizo bocadillo. After lunch we went into the Reina Sofia -- it is a modern art museum. They have a large collection of Picasso paintings, most notably Guernica. We also saw some Miro paintings and several Dali paintings including many before he got into his surreal phase.

After the museum we walked and walked again. I took a ton of pictures. Madrid is a fascinating and photogenic city. We popped into Madrid's largest dept. store chain, El Corte Ingles, for some browsing, then headed back to the room for a rest.

We fancied some late afternoon coffee so after our rest we headed over to Plaza de Oriente. There is a lovely formal garden there and a famous statue of a horse rearing up on its hind legs. It took none other than Galileo Galelei to figure out how to prevent the statue from toppling over (the rear of the statue is solid, the front is hollow). Also nearby are the Royal Palace and Madrid's Cathedral. We stopped of at Cafe Oriente for some more delicious coffee. We have learned we must order cafe con leche. We get some very strong coffee with heated milk with just a little bit of foam. Delicious!!!

After coffee we explored the cathedral. It is relatively new in construction. It was begun in the late 1800s and finished in 1993. Done in neo-gothic style and quite handsome. Nearby the cathedral is the Arab wall, the only remaining example of moorish architecture in Madrid. What a pathetic sample it was. Just a scrap of a stone and brick wall with the grounds overgrown with long grass and weeds, strewn with litter. It looks as if it is a hangout for homeless people.

We went back to the hotel again for a rest, then went to dinner at a place very close to Plaza Mayor again. It was called Las Cuevas de Luis Somebody. It is a bit touristy but said to have good tapas. We were greeted at the door by a man dressed up as a 19th century bandito, complete with fake rifle. (at least I think it was fake.) All the waiters wore funky little uniforms with goofy hats. The walls of the cave like rooms were adorned with bullfighting posters and bull's heads. The food was pretty good, but not great.

For dessert we went to the Chocolateria de San Gines for an authentic Madrid treat -- hot chocolate and churros. The hot chocolate is as thick as pudding and the churros are deep fried pastry sticks taht you dip in the chocolate. It is often eaten for breakfast here. It was good and rich, though I preferred the chocolate we had in Barcelona. We watched them making the churros. The batter is squirted out as a huge spiral from a big can into a deep vat of hot oil. When done the waiters cut the spiral with scissors into manageable portions about 6 inches long.

Arrival in Madrid

PLAZA MAYOR


BOTIN RESTAURANT

We woke up to the alarm at 7 a.m. this morning. Twelve hours later we walking on the streets of Madrid. It really shouldn't have taken that long to get to our destination, but we opted for a Lufthansa flight out of Manchester with a transfer in Munich in order to get a cheap fare. Flying out of Manchester at 11 a.m. meant that we hit morning rush hour in both Leeds and Manchester. ugh. Our plane touched down at around 5 p.m. -- just in time for the evening rush hour in Madrid on the Metro. We are staying at Hotel El Coloso. It is an okay hotel with a great location. Right now I'm at the Xin Feng Internet cafe across the street. It's one of the diviest internet cafes I've ever been in, the keyboards and monitors are all dirty and greasy. The native OS is chinese but the nice man who logged me in allowed me to choose an English OS. I feel safe here, but think I will need to shower as soon as I go back to the room.

After checking into our room we wandered over to Plaza Mayor. It is a large rectangular square fully enclosed by arcaded buildings. The arcades house overpriced touristy cafes and shops. In the middle of the square is one of the many horse statues of Madrid. Through the plaza and down a narrow street we found ourselves outside of restaurant Botin, said to be the oldest restaurant in the world. We were there around 7.30 p.m. but they don't open until 8 p.m. (actually early by Madrid standards) so we walked around a bit until 8. The restaurant was wonderfully atmospheric. We were seated downstairs in a room that had a wine cellar feel to it. we each tried the house menu -- garlic soup, roast suckling pig, bread, potatoes, bread, a choice of beer or wine (we chose beer) and ice cream. Everything was delicious but oh so rich. The waiters were all very friendly, not a bit snooty. After dinner we were so very tired from our long day of travel so we ambled back to our room and hit the sack. We didn't really want to go right to bed after having had such a late dinner, but it seems that is the Madrileno way.

Crocus Fever

The crocuses in Harrogate have been looking especially luscious these past few days. I think this is their last gasp before fading away. I wanted to capture them in all their glory before we leave for a short break in Madrid tomorrow. By the time we return on Monday the daffodils will be popping out all over.

A Walk Through The Woods

ALONG THE HARROGATE RINGWAY

It was quite cold and windy this morning but refreshingly clear. We took an early walk from our house over to Valley Gardens, through the Pinewoods on a path leading to RHS Harlow Carr garden. Our destination was the new branch of Bettys cafe recently opened at Harlow Carr. We estimate the distance to be about two miles. It took us about 50 minutes to get to Bettys -- we stopped along the way to ID a great spotted woodpecker and say hello to a friendly dog who anointed our coats and pants with muddy paws. Breakfast at Bettys was delish, as usual. After breakfast, we decided to explore the area around Harlow Carr and stumbled onto the Harrogate Ringway, a 21-mile circular public footpath around the outskirts of Harrogate. We were charmed by the view and just love the fact that footpaths like this one are so easily accessible. We did about a mile on the Ringway and another two-mile walk back home. We hoped we burned enough calories to match those we consumed at Bettys.

Back On The Trail

WHARFEDALE NEAR GRASSINGTON


HEBDEN

For the past two weeks snow and ice have caused my hiking groups' hikes to be cancelled. This past week the weather has been relatively mild (temps in the high 40s) with no precipitation to speak of. And weather forecasters even predicted sunshine for Thursday, our hiking day! Sure enough, the sun was shining in Harrogate as we left for Hebden, a little village in Wharfedale, where our hike began. But as we drove out of Harrogate up into and across the moors towards Hebden the skies clouded over and the temperature fell, but thankfully there was no rain, snow or sleet. We had a very scenic walk from Hebden over to Grassington, one of the Yorkshire Dales' most picturesque little villages. I took plenty of pictures, but was disappointed in the relentless gray skies that actually look opaque white in most of my photos. Maybe I need to get a filter for these gloomy gray days.

I Think Spring Is Coming

The moss is growing on the stone walls of Harrogate and the crocuses, relieved of their mantle of snow, are opening their petals to the sun.

Swingin With Bobby Darin

We woke up again to another light dusting of snow. Enough to make morning rush hour messy and cause our Thursday hike to be cancelled. It's the second week in a row and the third time in the past few weeks that the hike has been cancelled due to weather. Unprecedented in the history of this hiking group.

A fellow hiker and I decided to check out the Thursday morning matinee at the Odeon theatre. It's a really great deal. They charge £2.80 ($5.35) for admission and serve complimentary tea/coffee and biscuits (cookies). The movies aired for the matinee are not the latest-run movies; they could be a few weeks, months or even years old. Today's offering was Beyond The Sea starring Kevin Spacey. I was never a big fan of Bobby Darin but I absolutely loooove his song Mack The Knife. I am a big fan of Kevin Spacey. I enjoyed the movie alot but agree that Kevin Spacey was too old for the role. Amazingly, he performed all his own musical numbers and did a fair job, but now I'm hungry to hear the original versions. The movie was rather long and when we emerged from the theatre the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the streets were dry. It seemed a shame to have had to cancel the hike but I enjoyed sharing my morning with Bobby D.

It's Snowing Again

I know my friends and family who live in Baltimore and Ohio don't want to hear me talk about snow, as their snowfall output has been at least triple than ours here in Harrogate. But it is unusual for us to have so many days of snowfall here in Yorkshire. In Harrogate it looks like it's only a couple of inches but Brad reported that there was no snow at all where he works, just a 20-minute ride from here and on higher ground. But in the North York Moors roads have been closed because they became impassable. It is still snowing now. They say it should taper off later on today. And I'll bet that by evening rush hour most of it will have melted away.