18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt
fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm i serien ”Books That Made
Britain” – interessant serie men en dum titel – du godeste! Hvert afsnit af
serien fokuserer på en eller anden britisk region og taler om de forfattere,
der er blevet inspireret at skrive historier, som udspiller sig i området.
Programmet koncentrerer sig i aften om grevskabet Yorkshire og dets nordsøkyst.
Lois og jeg kiggede på denne kyst fra oven sidste december, da vi fløj hjem
fra København. Vi mindedes Frank Sinatras velkendte sang,
”It’s
oh so nice to go travelling, to Copenhagen and Perth,
…
dum di dum di dum di ...
home to the land of your birth.
And the Humber River
Makes you start to shiver
Like the latest ‘flivver’
That’s simply dripping with chrome” osv osv
Tilbageblik til sidste
december:
Vi begynder at flyve
over Englands nordsøkyst (floden Humber).
Undskyld for det korte sidespring! Programmets vært er en charmerende lokal
digter, John Wedgwood Clarke, som Lois og jeg aldrig har hørt om. Han benytter
lejligheden til at recitere nogle af sine digte i løbet af programmet – men vi
er ikke ret imponerede, ikke noget tvivl om det! Men han er meget charmerende
og imponerer de mange lokale forfattere, han taler med, i sær de kvindelige.
Lois synes, han er den slags mand, som ældre kvinder (ikke hende!) fantaserer
om at gå i seng med – du godeste! Kvinder elsker digtere – det ved vi med
sikkerhed!!!
John Wedgwood Clarke, den slags mand,
som
ældre kvinder fantaserer sig om !!!!
Han taler for det første om Bram Stokers ”Dracula”. Dracula ankom til
England fra Transsylvanien ved et fiktivt forlis på kysten nær den oprindeligt
danske byen Whitby; dette forlis var baseret på et sandfærdigt forlis i løbet
af en storm, der rammede byen i 1885.
Så rejser vi sydpå til byen Scarborough og familien Bronte. Slutningen af
Anne Brontes ”Agnes Grey” udspiller sig på stranden her. Anne besøgte byen igen
i 1849, sammen med sin søster Charlotte. Anne var alvorlig syg (hun led af
tuberkulose), men hun håbede (forgæves), at søluften ville redde hende. Hun
døde faktisk her kort efter sin ankomst til byen – stakkels Anne!!!! Charlotte
havde mistet nu alle sine søskende (sin bror og sine 3 søstre).
Vi rejser så videre sydpå til byen Filey, hvor Charlotte skrev sit berømte
brev om familiens tragisk historie. Det kan jeg personligt relatere til – jeg
mistede desværre både min lillebror or én af mine to lillesøstre i løbet af 3
måneder for 3 år siden.
Charlotte Bronte kom snart efter Annes død til byen
Filey,
hvor hun beskrev familiens tragisk
historie i et berømt brev
Vi rejser derefter videre sydpå, via Mappelton (hvor Winifred Holtbys
”South Riding” udspiller sig), ned til Spurn Point, et tom og ensomt sted, som
Lois og jeg så fra oven, da vi fløj hjem fra København i december 2015.
Vi rejser sydpå ned til Spurn Point,
der
inspirede min yndlingsdigter, Philip Larkin.
Larkin kunne godt lide også byen Hull, hvor han arbejdede som biblioteker.
Han sagde, at Hull ikke var på vej til nogle steder, og derfor få af hans
venner kom og forstyrrede ham – du godeste! Han var lidt af en enspænder –
ingen tvivl om det!!! Han holdt meget af tomhed og ensomhed.
Men Larkin holdt meget af kvinder også, og i mange år havde han et
hemmeligt forhold til sin sekretær, Betty Mackereth, men han droppede hende
endelig og startede et nyt forhold med en anden kvinde, men Lois og jeg har
glemt, hvem det var. Du godeste – vi bliver gamle, ingen tvivl om det!!!!
Larkin havde et langvarigt forhold til sin sekretær på universitet - uha!
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzz!!!!!
02:00 Vi vågner begge op og snakker lidt i sengen. Vi diskuterer udsigten
til en supermåne i aften – jeg påpeger, at vejrudsigten ikke er ret godt
(”meget overskyet”), så det kan være, at vi ser den ikke, hvilket er en skam –
vi har ventet 68 år for at se endnu en anden supermåne. Den tidligere sås, da
vi begge to var 2 år gamle – du godeste!
Endelig jeg falder i søvn igen og har et mareridt om Bobs baghave (Bob er
vores nabo).
04:30 Jeg vågner op igen. Lois er stadig vågen, så jeg står op og lover
hende, jeg ikke vil bringer hendes kop te, indtil hun beder om at jeg bringer
den. Hun trænger til at sove længe for at kompensere for hendes mangel på søvn
i nat – det ved jeg med sikkerhed.
08:30 Lois kalder ned fra vores sengen og beder mig om at bringe hende en
kop te. Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver to kopper te. Jeg bringer dem op på vores soveværelse og kryber tilbage i vores seng. Vi drikker teen og
bliver liggende under dynerne i endnu én time. Du godeste – vi er blevet så
dovne!!!
10:00 Vi står endelig op og spiser morgenmad. Vi går en kort tur i
nabolaget (1 mile, 100 kalorier). Vores rute: Dybegade, Højgade, Møllegade og
tilbage igen via Borgergade.
Vi går en kort tur i nabolaget (1 mile, 100 kalorier)
13:00 Vi spiser frokost, og bagefter går jeg i seng og tager mig en
gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzz!!!!
15:00 Jeg står op og vi slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.
15:30 Lois smutter ind hos naboerne (Bill og Mary) for at drikke en kop te
og snakke med Mary.
English translation
18:00 We have dinner and spend
the rest of the evening watching TV. They show an interesting documentary
series "Books That Made Britain" - interesting series but a silly
title - my god! Each episode of the series focuses on one or other UK region
and talks about the writers who have been inspired to write stories that played
out in the area. The program focuses tonight on the county of Yorkshire and its
North Sea coast.
Lois and I looked at this coast
from above, last December, when we flew home from Copenhagen. We recalled Frank
Sinatra's famous song,
"It's oh so nice to go traveling,
to
Copenhagen and Perth,
...
Dum di dum di dum di ...
home to the land of your birth.
And the Humber River
Makes you start to shiver
Like the latest 'flivver'
That's simply dripping with chrome "etc
etc.
Flashback to last December:
We start flying over England's North Sea
coast (river Humber).
Sorry for the brief digression!
The program's host is a charming local poet, John Wedgwood Clarke, whom Lois
and I have never heard of. He takes the opportunity to recite some of his poems
during the program - but we are not very impressed, no doubts about that! But
he is very charming and impresses the many local writers whom he speaks to,
especially the female ones. Lois thinks he's the kind of man that older women
(not her!) fantasize about going to bed with - my god! Women love poets - we
know that for sure !!!
John Wedgwood Clarke, the kind of man
older women fantasize about !!!!
He speaks firstly about Bram
Stoker's "Dracula". Dracula arrived in England from Transylvania thanks to a fictitious shipwreck on the coast near the originally Danish town of Whitby. This shipwreck was based on a true shipwreck that happened during a storm that hit the town
in 1885.
Then we travel south to the town
of Scarborough and the Bronte family. The end of Anne Bronte's "Agnes
Grey" was played out on the beach here. Anne visited the city again in
1849, with her sister Charlotte. Anne was seriously ill (she suffered from
tuberculosis), but she hoped (in vain) that the sea air would save her. She
died here actually shortly after her arrival in town - poor Anne !!!! Charlotte
had lost now all her siblings (her brother and her 3 sisters).
We travel on further south to the
town of Filey, where Charlotte wrote her famous letter about the family's
tragic history. I can personally relate to that - I unfortunately lost both my
brother or one of my two little sisters over a period of 3 months, 3 years ago.
Soon after Anne's death Charlotte came to
the town of Filey,
where she described the family's tragic
story in a famous letter
We then travel further south, via
Mappelton (where Winifred Holtby's "South Riding" unfolds), down to
Spurn Point, an empty and lonely place, which Lois and I saw from above as we
were flying home from Copenhagen in December 2015.
We travel south down to Spurn Point,
which inspired my favorite poet, Philip
Larkin.
Larkin also liked the city of Hull, where he
worked as a librarian. He said that Hull was not on the way to anywhere, and
therefore few of his friends came and bothered him - my god! He was a bit of a
loner - no doubt about it !!! He was very fond of emptiness and loneliness.
But Larkin loved women too, and
for many years he had a secret relationship with his secretary, Betty
Mackereth. He dumped her in the end and started a new relationship with another
woman, but Lois and I forget who it was. My god - we are growing old, no doubt
about it !!!!
Larkin carried on a long-standing affair
with his secretary at the university - oh dear!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzz !!!!!
02:00 We wake both up and talk a
little in bed. We discuss the prospect of a super moon tonight - I point out
that the weather forecast is not very good ("very cloudy"), so it may
be that we will not see it, which is a shame - we have been waiting 68 years to
see another super moon. The earlier one was seen when both of us were 2 years
old - my god!
Finally I fall asleep again and
have a nightmare about Bob's backyard (Bob is our neighbor).
04:30 I wake up again. Lois is
still awake, so I get up and promise her I will not bring her cup of tea until
she asks me to bring it. She needs to have a long sleep in order to compensate
for her lack of sleep overnight - I know that for sure.
08:30 Lois called down from our
bed and asks me to bring her a cup of tea. I hurry into the kitchen and make
two cups of tea. I bring them up to our bedroom and crawl back into our bed. We
drink the tea and stay lying under the covers for another hour. My god - we
have become so lazy !!!
10:00 We finally get up and eat breakfast. We go for a
short walk in the neighborhood (1 mile, 100 calories). Our itinerary: Dybegade,
Højgade, Møllegade and back again via Borgergade.
We go for a short walk in
the neighborhood (1 mile, 100 calories)
13:00 We eat lunch, and then I go
to bed and take a gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzzz !!!!
15:00 I get up and we relax with
a cup of tea on the sofa.
15:30 Lois pops into the
neighbors' house (Bill and Mary) to drink a cup of tea and talk to Mary.
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