Why Can't Girls Throw ?

It's a known fact, white men can't dance, girls can't throw*.

During a walk in the snow yesterday with  Mrs Wurzel, she suggested that a good photo would be one of her throwing a snowball straight at the camera. "Ok", I thought, "We'll see".

I got her nicely lined up in a ready to throw pose and told her to aim straight at the camera. "Won't I damage it ?" she asked. It was a risk I was prepared to take.

Through the viewfinder I saw the snowball leave her hand, sail upwards and out of shot , with no idea where it landed. "No, aim AT the camera" I told her.

The following 5 minutes reminded me of the never-ending loop programmes we wrote at school back in the mid 70s. (We thought that such a programme would eventually blow-up the computer - disappointingly it never did)

10 Me: Aim camera

20 Mrs W : Throw snowball

30 Me: Say "Aim at camera"

40 Goto 10

There was one "mishap" when one snowball I never saw first nor last hit me fair and square in the - in cricket parlance - box region. Curiously, and I am not making any accusations here, that one seemed to have more force behind it than the others.

Eventually, I managed to end up with the shot below,probably more by luck than judgement. I use it as an example to justify the story, not because of any artistic merit. Not quite the dramatic shot I hoped for, but if I stood there any longer I'd have started to freeze.

* with apologies to Tessa Anderson and Fatima Whitbread