Laura Davis: Is your craving for detox soup really a thirst for adventure?

Dec 28 2009 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post

WHAT did you get for Christmas? Hopefully among the selection packs, socks and Doctor Who action figures there was a fur-lined cagoule and a pair of snow shoes.

Otherwise, how could you be expected to get through the cold snap?

Never before has the word “treacherous” been used so often in a 10-day period, slipping into conversation as soon as the first flakes of white stuff began floating down on an unsuspecting Merseyside.

Cries of “wow, snow!” very quickly replaced with “ooh, treacherous” spoken in a voice lined with wisdom and accompanied by plenty of head shaking.

Urban life has suddenly become an adventure.

Would we make it home for Christmas?

Would we get frostbite waiting for the bus into town?

How to negotiate the, yes, treacherous walk from the front door to the car without the help of cross-country skies and a rucksack packed with energy bars?

Even traversing the supermarket carpark with a 9lb turkey becomes the equivalent of a Himalayan trek.

Would it simply be easier to borrow a trolley and sledge home, wedged inside between stalks of Brussels sprouts and trays of stuffing?

If proof were ever needed that we crave some adventure in our lives then the recent weather has more than provided it.

And how well we have adapted, using Boy Scout skills to sprinkle the front step with table salt to prevent slippage and hot water from the kettle to melt open the wheelie bins.

We bravely venture to the sales, not letting the dire conditions get in the way of the important things in life, though it nearly ruined Christmas dinner when the trolley upturned on the way home and the turkey squashed the veg.

Even if you didn’t get snow shoes (are they really just tennis rackets strapped to your feet like in cartoons?) or a blanket-with-arms in your stocking never fear.

The festive season is abundant with do-it-yourself opportunities for fighting the chill.

Place pieces of polystyrene toy packaging inside your shoes to prevent chilblains, cover yourself with used wrapping paper when watching TV and, in event of emergency, rub left-over turkey fat on your limbs for extra warmth.

And sure, there may be those dissenters who mutter how we all have it easy these days with our central heating, and in their day they had to chip ice off the inside of their bedroom windows, but we know they’re just viewing the past through rose-tinted glasses.

What will we do for adventure when the thaw sets in?

No doubt we’ll all feel grateful for a while that the feeling has returned to our extremities and we no longer have to layer up like a sponge cake for the journey to work.

But I bet it won’t take long before the itch for excitement sets in.

The first signs will become noticeable in early January – people walking to the office instead of getting the bus.

They’ll claim it’s part of their New Year’s detox programme, but really they’re trying to break away from their usual routine, and who knows what could happen on a stroll through suburbia that they may need to tackle en route.

An escaped toy poodle perhaps, or a runaway supermarket trolley, discarded during the Christmas rush.

Next they’ll be surviving only on protein, in training for when they might find themselves lost in the Amazonian jungle with only bugs to eat.

They may say it’s just a diet, but we know better.

READ more of Laura’s columns at www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/lauradavis

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