08:05 Vores specielle bus afgår fra Ashchurch Banegård, i nærheden af
Tewkesbury. Bussen har plads til maximum 22 personer, og sæderne er arrangerede
i grupper af 4 omkring et lille bord, ligesom en Pullman-vogn. Vi har aldrig
set sådan en bus før – det er både sikkert og vist! Lois og jeg er (selvfølgelig,
som sædvanligt) de første til at komme, så vi sætter os på bagsæderne, ved
siden af toilettet ha ha ha! Efter 5 minutter kommer ca. 8 andre personer og
stiger ombord. Vi skal af sted til London.
vores specielle bus afgår kl 08:05 fra
Ashchurch Banegård
sæderne er arrangerede i grupper af 4 omkring
et lille bord, ligesom en Pullman-vogn: ikke det bedste for mig!!!!
På vej standser buschaufføren i Brockworth, for at hente endnu 12
mennesker. Alle de passagere er medlemmer af Lois’s kirke i Tewkesbury. Vores
ven, Shirley, sætter sig på vores bord. Den måde, siddepladserne er arrangeret, gør samtale lettere, hvilket er ikke det
bedste for mig, fordi jeg har lyst til at enten døse eller læse den spritnye bog,
jeg har medbragt: The Cambridge Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature”, af Hugh
Magennis. Pokkers!
11:00 Vi ankommer til i Bloomsbury, i centrale London, og går ind i
museet. En ekspert, der også er medlem af Lois’s kirke, guider os rundt og
viser os forskellige levn fra det gamle assyriske imperium (ca 900-600 f.Kr):
inskriptioner for det meste, der omtaler begivenheder eller figurer, der vi
læser om i Bibelen.
Mange eksperter, der ikke kan lide bibelen, har sagt, at der er ”ikke fundet
arkæologiske beviser” for begivenhederne i det gamle testamente, så historierne
i bibelen er derfor falske, hvilket er en dum konklusion, synes jeg. Det er
sandt, at der findes få arkæologiske beviser, men efter min mening er der en
simpel årsag til dette – det gamle testamente er 100% etnocentrisk, og blev
skrevet af jøder for jøder, så alt, der overgår det jødiske folk er vigtige i
forfatternes øjne. Men fra synspunktet af de større imperier (det assyriske,
egyptiske, persiske osv) var det jødiske folk ikke ret vigtigt. Derfor er der få
inskriptioner, der nævner jøderne. Simpelt !!!!!!!
I dag er lørdag, så museet er fyldt til bristepunktet med turister,
hvilket er meget irriterende. Pokkers! Vores guide har en blød stemme, og det
er svært at høre ham – pokkers (igen)! Lois og jeg skal blive stående i lange
minutter på samme sted, mens vi prøver at høre og forstå, hvad han siger. Vi
spiser frokost på museets café, men ved slutningen af besøget er vi begge to
dødtrætte – uha!
16:00 Lois og jeg er igen selvfølgelig de første til at gå ombord bussen
15 minutter før den planlagte afgangstid. Heldigvis har både Lois og Shirley
lyst til at døse, så derfor kan jeg døse også – hurra!
Bussens bagsæde: vi begynder snart at døse på
vej hjem!
19:00 Vi står af bussen ved Ashchurch Banegård, siger farvel til vores
venner, og kører hjem. Vi er godt trætte!
19:30 Da vi kommer hjem, får vi en dejlig overraskelse – Alison, vores
ældste datter, der bor i København, har sendt Lois en buket tulipaner og en
stor æske chokolade som morsdagsgave – hurra!
20:00 Lois ringer til Alison for at takke hende for gaverne. Alison
siger, at hun nu har det lidt bedre efter hendes vedvarende forkølelse og hoste
– hurra!
21:00 Vi spiser
aftensmad og bagefter ser lidt fjernsyn. ”Oh, just a perfect day, see Assyrians in the museum, I see 'em and you see 'em too, and then home. It's such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with
you, oh such a perfect day, you just keep me hanging on”.
22:00 Vi kollapser i sengen – zzzzz!!!!
06:00 Jeg står op 2 timer senere, end normalt. Jeg genoptager i dag min
nye rutine, hvor jeg står op klokken 6 og klarer mig uden min eftermiddagslur.
I dag er Mors Dag i Storbritannien. Jeg sætter mig ved vores computer, og
jeg designer og udprinter mit morsdagskort til Lois. Jeg beslutter at bruge ét
af de fotos jeg tog i går i museet.
Forsiden af mit morsdagskort til Lois: ”Glædelig morsdag” på
gammelt assyrisk ha ha ha!!!!
09:00 Jeg laver to kopper te og bringer dem op på vores soveværelse. Vi
ligger i sengen og drikker teen. Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i
Australien, ringer til Lois for at ønske hende glædelig morsdag.
Sarah og Francis, hendes mand, og deres 2,5 årige tvillinger, Lily og
Jessica, fortsætter med deres rejse langs kysten nord for Perth. De har nu nået
Cable Beach, der ligger i nærheden af Broome, en lille by 1390 miles (2240 km)
nord for Perth – du godeste!
Sarahs familie er nu
1400 miles nord for Perth – du godeste, de er så langt hjemmefra!
Jeg kigger lidt på internettet, og jeg ser, at Cable Beach er det sted,
hvor de britiske myndigheder i 1889 lagde et undersøiske telegrafkabel fra
Australien til Singapore, så telegrafbeskeder kunne sendes mellem Australien og
England – hurra!
10:45 Lois skal af sted. Der er 2 gudstjenester, der i dag finder sted i
Tewkesbury, som hun vil deltage i.
13:00 Jeg spiser frokost. For første gang siden min mor døde i 2011, har
jeg modet til at se den gamle vhs-video, hvor jeg i 2007 ”interviewede” min mor
om hendes barndomstid i 1920’erne i det sydlige Wales. Det er på min ”to do” list at kopiere dette
video-klip til dvd – du godeste! Jeg husker, at jeg afkortede det oprindelige
interview efter omkring 20 minutter, da min mor begyndte at kritisere hendes
søskende – uha!
Min mor prøver at huske sin barndomstid, da
jeg i 2007 interviewer hende i vores stue
Da interviewet slutter på vhs-båndet, opdager jeg at der på dette bånd er
også flere klip, som jeg indspillede under en stor familie komsammen, som
familie Evans holdt i 2007 hos min kusine, Jeannette, i Gerards Cross.
Jeannette havde inviteret alle de efterkommere af min bedsteforældre, Sydney og
Gladys Evans: en meget stor gruppe! Jeg havde helt glemt, at jeg havde optaget
disse videoklip!
Lois og jeg medbragte min mor til denne familiekomsammen, og vores
ældste datter, Alison, kom også, sammen med sin mand, Ed, og deres dengang 11-mdr(?)
gamle datter, Josie. Det er lidt af en overraskelse at se lille Josie kravle
rundt i Jeannettes hus – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!
Min mor vugger den 11-mdr gamle Josie, sin første oldebarn,
under den store familiekomsammen i 2007
Lois (off kamera) snakker med Alison og
Susans datter Magda. De to piger havde ikke mødtes med hinanden i 24 år. Vi
boede hos Susan, min kusine, i et par uger i 1983 i Denver, USA, da Alison var 8 år gammel og Magda 6. Susan står bag
Magda, til højre.
16:00 Lois kommer hjem og vi slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.
English translation
Saturday 03/05/2016 at 0801 till Sunday, 03.06.2016 at 1629
08:05 Our special bus departs from Ashchurch Train Station, near
Tewkesbury. The bus has a maximum capacity of 22 people, and the seats are
arranged in groups of four around a small table, like a Pullman car. We have
never seen such a bus before - that is both certain and sure! Lois and I are
(of course, as usual) the first to arrive, so we sit in the back, next to the
toilet ha ha ha! After 5 minutes, around 8 other people come and climb aboard.
We leave for London.
our special bus departs at 8:05 from Ashchurch
Train Station
the seats are arranged in groups of four around
a small table, like a Pullman car:
not the best for me !!!!
On the way the bus driver stops in Brockworth, to pick up another 12
people. All the passengers are members of Lois's church in Tewkesbury. Our
friend, Shirley, sits down at our table. The way the seating is arranged makes conversation easier, which is not the best for me because I want to either doze
or read the brand new book I brought along: "The Cambridge Introduction to
Anglo-Saxon Literature, "by Hugh Magennis . Damn!
11:00 We arrive in Bloomsbury, central London, and go into the museum. An
expert who is also a member of Lois's church, guides us around and show us
various relics from the ancient Assyrian empire (ca 900-600 BC): inscriptions
for the most part, that mention events or characters that we read about in the
Bible.
Many experts who do not like the Bible have said that there is "no
archaeological evidence" for the events of the Old Testament, so the
stories in the Bible are false, which is a stupid conclusion, I think. It is
true that there is little archaeological evidence, but in my opinion there is a
simple reason for this - the Old Testament is 100% ethnocentric, and was
written by Jews for Jews, so everything that befalls the Jewish people is
important in the authors' eyes. But from the standpoint of the larger empires
(Assyrian, Egyptian, Persian, etc.) the Jewish people were not very important.
Therefore, there are few inscriptions that mention the Jews. Simples !!!!!!!
Today is Saturday, so the museum is filled to overflowing with tourists,
which is very annoying. Damn! Our guide has a soft voice, and it's hard to hear
him - damn (again)! Lois and I stand for long minutes in the same place while
we try to hear and understand what he says. We eat lunch at the museum cafe,
but at the end of the visit we are both very tired - oh dear!
16:00 Lois and I are again of course the first to board the bus 15 minutes
before the scheduled departure. Fortunately, both Lois and Shirley want to
doze, so I can doze too - hurrah!
The back seat of the bus : we soon start to doze
on the way home!
19:00 We get off the bus at Ashchurch Train Station, saying goodbye to our
friends and driving home. We are really tired!
19:30 When we get home, we get a nice surprise - Alison, our oldest
daughter who lives in Copenhagen, has sent Lois a bouquet of tulips and a large
box of chocolates as a mother's day gift - hurrah!
20:00 Lois calls Alison to thank her for the gifts. Alison says she now
feels a little better after her persistent colds and coughs - hurrah!
21:00 We have dinner and afterwards look at a little television.
22:00 We collapse into bed - zzzzz !!!!
06:00 I get up two hours later than normal. I am now resuming my new
routine whereby I get up at 6 o'clock and do without my afternoon nap.
Today is Mother's Day in Britain. I sit down at our computer, and I design
and print out my mother's day card to Lois. I decide to use one of the photos I
took yesterday in the museum.
Front page of My Mother's Day card to Lois: "Happy Mother's
Day" in ancient Assyrian -
ha ha ha !!!!
09:00 I make two cups of tea and bring them up to our bedroom. We lie in
bed and drink tea. Sarah, our youngest daughter, who lives in Australia, calls
Lois to wish her a happy Mother's Day.
Sarah and Francis, her husband, and their 2.5 year old twins, Lily and
Jessica, are continuing their journey along the coast north of Perth. They have
now reached Cable Beach, which is located near Broome, a small town 1390 miles
(2240 km) north of Perth - my goodness!
Sarah's family is now 1400 miles north of Perth
- my goodness, they are so far from home!
I look a little at the internet, and I see that Cable Beach is the place
where in 1889 the British authorities laid an undersea telegraph cable from Australia
to Singapore, so telegraph messages could be sent between Australia and England
- hurrah!
10:45 Lois has to be off. There are two services taking place in Tewkesbury
today, which she wants to attend.
13:00 I eat lunch. For the first time since my mother died in 2011, I have
the courage to see the old vhs video in which I "interviewed" my
mother in 2007 about her childhood in the 1920s in South Wales. It's on my
"to do" list to copy the video clip to DVD - my goodness! I remember
that I shortened the original interview after about 20 minutes when my mother
began to criticize her siblings - oh!
My mother trying to recall her childhood, when I interview her in our
living room in 2007
When the
interview ends on the VHS tape, I discover that on this tape there are also
several clips that I recorded during a big family get-together, which the Evans
family held in 2007 at my cousin, Jeannette's house, in Gerards Cross.
Jeannette had invited all the descendants of my grandparents, Sydney and Gladys
Evans: a very large group! I had completely forgotten that I had recorded these
videos!
Lois and I brought my mother to this family get-together, and our elder daughter, Alison, also came, along with her husband, Ed, and their then 11-month (?) old daughter, Josie. It is a bit of a surprise to see little Josie crawl around in Jeannette's house - that, I know for sure!
My mother cradles 11-month old Josie, her first great-grandchild, during the big
family get-together in 2007
Lois (off camera) talks to Alison, and to Susan's daughter Magda. The two girls had
not met each other for 24 years. We stayed with Susan, my cousin, for a few
weeks in 1983 in Denver, USA, when Ali was 8 and Magda was 6. Susan is behind Magda, to the right.
16:00 Lois
comes home and we relax with a cup of tea on the sofa.
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