Yes, "Stop the world, I want to get off!" - that was the theme of an iconic Leslie Bricusse / Anthony Newley musical back in the 1960's, and sometimes I feel the same as lead character Newley, that the pace of life today is just getting too fast for me.
People talk too fast as well, my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois and I always think, especially on TV. Thank goodness we can keep our fingers on the pause button, which gives us time to read the subtitles "for the hard of hearing" - the cheek of it (!).
me and my medium-to-long-suffering wife Lois
- a recent picture
Even in pubs, we're finding it harder and harder to "earwig" on what the young people especially are saying these days. There's no "pause button" for that situation, sadly, nor even subtitles !!!! Faster is not always better, we think. And at last there are signs that people are coming round to our point of view, which is a relief, to put it mildly!
Step forward, local smarty-pants Benjamin Walker, who's making the headlines in this morning's Onion News, and not in a good way (!).
Poor Walker !!!! Time to slow down, guy, if you ever want to "pull", that is!
The tide may be turning however - you may have missed this additional story this morning, which was kind of "buried" somewhat, by an unfortunate decision by some sub-editor probably (!), way towards the back of the paper on page 94 (see the above "editing snafu" (!!!!)).
[That's enough Onion News stories! - Ed]
So yes, faster isn't always better - and Lois and I feel we've just got to. somehow or other, slow down the hectic, and manic, pace of our lives! Lois and I happen to lead the local U3A Old Codgers Intermediate Danish group, "for our sins" (!), and I spend some of the morning compiling vocab lists for our members, because our next online group meeting is coming up fast, on Thursday would you believe =- yikes!!!! I've got to design a moonpig birthday card for our daughter Sarah in Australia, who's turning 48, and make arrangements for a Father's Day lunch this Sunday at the Rising Sun in nearby Milland. Then Lois and I go for an "old codger couples" walk over nearby Iron Hill.
Busy busy busy !!!!
Father's Day lunch will be at the Rising Sun pub in Milland, the village
where Roman legions once "trooped by" (not pun intended!!!!) on
their way on the old Roman road from Chichester to Silchester
(left) our moonpig card to our daughter Sarah, and (right)
us on our morning walk on Iron Hill - it was Britain's reserves
of iron and tin that brought the Romans here in the first place
And when we get back from Iron Hill, I do some weeding in our tiny back garden, and Lois plants a raft of seedlings in our tiny veggie beds and in pots in the garage, before cutting back shrubs etc etc.
Busy busy busy (again) !!!
But is busy always best? Funnily enough Lois got her own personal "epiphany", on this issue, from a local black-and-white cat, who, while Lois was toiling and tilling (!), calmly strolled into our garden and quietly went to sleep, curled up on a paving-stone.
What madness, she thought at first, but then she thought again !!! Has that cat maybe got something to teach us about life in general?
while Lois and I toil (see above!), a local black-and-white cat,
strolls into our back garden, calm as you please, and
curls up to go to sleep in the sunshine, on a convenient paving stone
Is working harder, working faster always the best option?
I wonder....!
And when we sit down (finally!) and lunch on a plate of baked beans and grated cheese on toast, we make a joint decision to start takeing things a bit easier ourselves, slow the pace a little, and maybe spend the afternoon in bed. [You do that anyway! - Ed]
After all, it's just us humans, who work at this sort of manic pace, after all, isn't it. The rest of the natural world does everything in its own sweet time, as we see on tonight's edition of Springwatch, the series that gives a nightly check on the state of the UK's wildlife, through a network of live presenters around the country.
Lois and I didn't know about lead presenter Chris Packham's fascination with grass snakes, and his encyclopaedic knowledge about them, including the little known fact that in Latvia, grass snakes were traditionally revered as symbols of fertility, as he tells fellow-presenter Michaela Strachan in this sequence.
Yes, Latvia has moved on, and so, unfortunately, must we!
But before we do, can we learn a lesson about taking life at a slower pace, perhaps, from the humble "small blue", the UK's smallest resident butterfly?
During the mating season, the male takes his time preparing to "get it on" with a female, by building up his strength with hours of feeding, typically on mud and fox excrement - a process known as "puddling". Then, and only then, does he feel strong enough to go out "on the pull" (!).
When he finds the perfect female and they start mating, they then stay locked together for hours, abdomen to abdomen, until he's finished transferring his load, or "packet", as naturalists call it.
Yes, when the two have finally finished their marathon "mating experience", the male then goes away to rest after his labours. "Fair enough!", we say - the poor little chap must be worn out !!!!
The female, meanwhile, has to lay her eggs, but once again, she takes her time - it's not done in a rush. It's just one egg at a time, followed by a break, and then it's time to lay another egg somewhere else, and so on and so on.
How civilised, Lois comments! And could it be perhaps that even we humans can learn a thing or two from these delightful little creatures?
I wonder.....!
Will this do?
[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!
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