17:00 Lois er ikke dukket op endnu. Hun har været i Pershore, hvor hendes
kirke holder en slags studiedag – jeg forstår ikke, hvad den drejer sig om, men
dagens titel er ”den store samtale” (en moderne buzz-udtryk), så jeg formoder,
at det drejer sig om retningen, som kirken går i.
Jeg har lidt alenetid og går i gang med at rette og opdatere vores
adresselister, så vi kan begynde at sende vores julekort af, hvilket er en
enorm årlig opgave – uha! Jeg sætter mig foran computeren og skaber to lister,
som altid, min liste og Lois’s liste. I sammenligning til Lois er jeg ikke et
meget socialt dyr, så hendes liste er meget længere, end min – du godeste (henholdsvis 5 sider og 3 sider)! Det viser
klart, at det betaler sig ikke at bygge en stor omgangskreds op – ingen tvivl
om det!!!
I fortiden havde
jeg meget flere slægtninge, end Lois, men i de seneste 20 år har hendes nevø og
niece været i gang med at skabe masser af nye menneskelige væsner. De er
åbenbart begge to meget meget frugtbare – deres 2 familier har mindst 10 børn,
muligvis flere – jeg kan ikke holde tal på dem mere! Og de danner nogle massive
aldersforskelle – de ældste er i 20’erne, og de yngste er lige begyndt at gå i
skole – du godeste, en mini-befolkningseksplosion! Og de er alle
Brexit-tilhængere – det er jeg helt sikker på!!!! Du godeste – ikke underligt,
at vi tabte folkeafstemningen!!!!
18:00 Lois kommer
hjem igen, lidt tidligere, end forventet. Hendes veninde, Mari-Ann, sætter
hende af foran huset og kører hjem. Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af
aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn.
De viser en
interessant dokumentarfilm (3. del af 3). Serien hedder ”Britain at Low Tide” (Storbritannien ved
lavvande). Programmets hovedværter er den charmerende geolog, Tori Herridge, og
en betænksom arkæolog, Alex Langlands. Dette 3. afsnit handler om grevskabet
Essex’s lange kystlinje, der grænser op til Nordsøen.
Vi ser resterne af et gammelt ”blockhouse”, en af de mange simple cirkulære
eller sekskantede fæstningsværker (nogle lavede af sten, men for det meste af
træ og jord), der blev bygget langs Englands østlige og sydlige kyster i det
16. århundrede efter Kong Henry den 8. foretog Englands første”Brexit”, da han
droppede katolicismen og oprettede den anglikanske kirke.
Henry den 8. fik en masse fæstningsværker bygget
på
Englands østlige og sydlige kyst, efter han adopterede
den
risikable strategi at droppe katolicismen – du godeste!
Stemningen i landet var meget meget nervøs og paranoid efter denne middelalderlige
”Brexit”, og folk forventede, at pavens legendariske lange arm, i form af de
franske og/eller spanske flåder, før eller senere ville dukke op og smadre os
alle til små atomer – uha!
Hele landet blev ramt af paranoia, som folk ventede på,
at
de franske og spanske flåder rykker nærmere – yikes!!!!
Kongen scorede en formue ved at ødelægge
klostrene, konfiskere deres penge, og afskedige munkerne, og han brugte en del
af denne formue på at få en masse fæstningsværker bygget, men han kunne ikke
lide at bruge flere penge på sine soldater og hjemmeværnet. Blockhousets
kommandør fik kun en skilling om ugen, og de almindelige soldater kun seks
pence. Disse lønniveauer svarede til mindre end nutidens mindsteløn – det ved
jeg med sikkerhed!!!!
Kommandøren og hans soldater var nødt til at oprette
privatforretninger som fiskemænd for at kunne leve. Havet har for nylig (i de
seneste 10 år) afdækkede de stænger, lavet af træ, som de brugte for at fange
fisk i kæmpenet – du godeste! Stakkels soldater!!!!!
Kongen var så nærig, at han betalte sine
soldater mindre
end mindstelønnen – og de var nødt til at oprette
privatforretninger som fiskemænd – uha!
[Lois og jeg beundrer altid de kvindelige værters
dejlige røde og sandfarvede hår. uha - vi er så
overfladiske!!!!]
Soldaterne hang enorme lange net på træstolper
på stranden
for at fange fiskene ved højvande – sikke et
vanvid!!!!
Grevskabets kyst er for det meste en stor sump, så
ikke et godt sted for en fjende at invadere. Floderne er grevskabets
svaghedspunkter, så kongen besluttede at bygge sine fæstningsværker ved flodmundingerne.
Det var heldigt, at de franske og spanske flåde
dengang havde ingen ubåde, så vidt jeg ved. Før dette tv-dokumentarfilm slutter,
har vi set også resterne af en tyske ubåd fra den første verdenskrig. Hvorfor
kan alle disse mennesker forlader os alene ????!!!!!
Vi ser også en ødelagt tysk ubåd fra den 1.
verdenskrig,
der ligger stille og roligt i floden. Men hvor
bliver Junkers flåder af???
Jeg går ud fra, at Jean-Claude Junker ikke vil
sende ubåde til Storbritannien, men hvem ved? Vi lever i en skør verden – det
har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!!
22:00 We go to bed – zzzzzz!!!!!
05:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver én af mine rutinemæssige danske
ordforrådtester. Bagefter skynder jeg 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 står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.
09:00 Vi taler lidt på Skype med Sarah,
vores yngste datter, og hendes 3-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessica. Familien,
herunder Francis, Sarahs mand, flyttede for ét år siden til Perth i Australien.
Det er meget sjovt at tale med dem og se tvillingernes seneste tøj, legetøj,
dvd-kasser osv, de blomster de i morges har plukket i haven osv osv!!! De
hygger sig med at vise os så meget som muligt, før vi skal sige farvel – ingen
tvivl om det!!!
vi taler
lidt på Skype med Sarah og hendes tvillinger i Australien
Familiens læge
tror, at Francis desværre har et brok, og skal opereres. Det vil være meget
svært for familien, for det for tiden er Francis, der passer på tvillingerne i
hverdagen. Sarah må finde ud af, om der er en egnet barneplejer i nabolaget. Du
godeste, stakkels Francis. Det er lidt smertefuldt for ham for tiden, når han skal samle tvillingerne op,
er jeg helt sikker på.
12:00 Vi spiser
frokost. Lois har besluttet, at hun ikke vil i kirke i dag. Solen skinner og
den er lav på himlen, hvilket gør det svært at køre bil på grund af hendes grå
stær. Sine veninder, Maggie og Mari-Ann går ikke i kirke i dag – Maggie har en
migræne, og Mari-Ann er blevet inviteret til sin nieces 50. fødselsdagfest. Det
er heldigt, at kirken er for nylig begyndt at udsende sine gudstjenester på
internettet.
13:00 Jeg går i
seng og tager mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur – zzzzzz!!!! I mellemtiden sætter
Lois sig foran computeren og lytter til eftermiddagens gudstjeneste på nettet.
15:00 Jeg står op
og vi slapper af med en kop te på sofaen.
15:30 Jeg sætter
mig foran computeren og går i gang med at skrive det nyhedsbrev, vi vil
vedhæfter til julekortene, vi i år sender af. Jeg vælger også 4 fotos. Lois og
jeg fyldte begge i år 70 år, så jeg vælger et foto af mig, taget den 26. marts
i Stamford i grevskabet Lincolnshire, hvor vi begge to frøs på sporet af de
danske indvandrere, der grundlagde en by derhenne i det 10. århundrede.
Mit andet foto blev
taget den 6. juni i Perth, hvor Lois og jeg fejrede hendes 70. birthday i en
revolverende restaurant på den 33. etage af en høj bygning i nærheden af byens
havn.
Det tredje foto
blev taget af Sarah og tvillingerne i Swan-dalen lidt uden for Perth, og det
fjerde foto blev taget af Alison og hendes børn, da de besøgte os i juni.
Det var
vores år i en nøddeskal – du godeste!
Det var vores år i
en nøddeskal – du godeste! Hvor bliver årene af? Smuldre, smuldre mellem
fingrene, mens perspektiv ændrer sig uden at vi mærker det – det er jeg helt
sikker på!!!
Jeg kigger lidt på
nettet, og jeg ser et luftfoto af den tidligere arbejdsplads, hvor jeg
arbejdede i 32 år, før den for ca. 10 år siden blev revet ned.
et
luftfoto af min tidligere arbejdsplads,
før den blev revet
ned for ca. 10 år siden – uha!
Jeg tænker på de
gode dage, de dårlige dage, de kedelige dage, de spændende dage, som jeg tilbragte
i en eller anden bygning, der dannede det hele. Disse bygninger var mit liv i
32 år, men nu er de alle revet ned og smadret til små atomer. I det mindste kan Lois og jeg stadig tage derovre,
for at købe ind hver uge – det er blevet til et Sainsburys-supermarked. Hurra!
English translation
17:00 Lois has not shown up yet. She has been in Pershore, where her church
is holding a kind of study day - I do not understand what it is about, but
today's title is "the great conversation" (a modern buzz-phrase), so
I assume that it concerns the direction that the church is going in.
I have a little alone time and
begin to correct and update our mailing list so we can start sending our
Christmas cards off, which is a huge annual task - oh dear! I sit at the
computer and create two lists, as always, my list and Lois's list. In
comparison to Lois, I'm not a very social animal, so her list is much longer
than mine (respectively 3 pages and 5 pages) - my god! It clearly shows that it
does not pay to build up a large circle of friends - no doubts about that !!!
In the past, I had many more
relatives than Lois, but in the past 20 years, her nephew and niece have been busy
creating lots of new human beings. They're obviously both very very fertile -
their two families have at least 10 children, possibly more - I have lost count
of them! And they constitute some massive age differences - the oldest ones are
in their 20s and the youngest ones have just started going to school - my god,
a mini-population explosion! And they are all Brexit supporters!!!! My god - no
wonder we lost the referendum !!!!
18:00 Lois comes home again, a
little earlier than expected. Her friend, Mari-Ann drops her off in front of
the house and drives home. We eat dinner and spend the rest of the evening
watching TV.
They show an interesting
documentary (Part 3 of 3). The series is called "Britain at Low Tide". The main program-hosts are the charming geologist, Tori
Herridge, and a thoughtful archaeologist Alex Langlands. This third episode
deals with the county of Essex's long coastline, bordering the North Sea.
We see the remains of an old
"blockhouse", one of the many simple circular or hexagonal
fortifications (some made of stone, but mostly of wood and earth), that were
built on England's eastern and southern shores in the 16th century after King
Henry VIII carried out England's first "Brexit" when he dropped
Catholicism and created the Anglican church.
Henry VIII had a lot of fortifications
built
on England's eastern and southern coast,
after he adopted the risky strategy
of dropping Catholicism - my god!
The mood in the country was very
very nervous and paranoid after this medieval "Brexit" and people
expected that the Pope's legendary long arm, in the form of the French and / or
Spanish fleets, would sooner or later show up and smash us all up into little
atoms - oh dear!
The whole country was hit by paranoia,
as they waited for the French and Spanish fleets
to move closer - yikes !!!!
The king made a fortune by
destroying monasteries, confiscating their money and firing the monks, and he
spent part of this fortune on having a lot of fortifications built, but he did
not like to spend money on his soldiers and the National Guard. The blockhouse
commander received only a shilling a week, and the ordinary soldiers only six
pence. These wage levels corresponded to less than today's minimum wage - I
know that for sure !!!!
The commander and his soldiers
had to set up private businesses as fishermen in order to live. The sea has
recently (in the last 10 years) uncovered the posts, made of wood, which they
used in order to catch fish in huge nets - my god! Poor soldiers !!!!!
The king was so stingy that he paid his
soldiers less than the minimum wage –
and they had to set up private businesses as
fishermen - oh dear!
[Lois and I always admire the female hosts'
lovely
red and sandy hair. oh dear, we are so shallow !!!!]
The soldiers hung huge long nets on
wooden posts on the beach
to catch the fish at high tide - what
madness !!!!
The county's coast is mostly a
big swamp, so not a good place for an enemy to invade. The rivers are the
county's weak points, so the king decided to build his fortifications by the
estuaries.
It was fortunate that the French
and Spanish fleets at that time had no submarines, so far as I know. Before
this television documentary is over, we have also seen the remains of a German
submarine from the first World War. Why can't all these people just leave us
alone ???? !!!!!
I assume that Jean-Claude Juncker
will not send submarines to the UK, but who knows? We live in a crazy world - I
have no doubts about that !!!!!
We also see a damaged German submarine
from World War 1,
lying quietly in the river. But where have
Junker's fleets got to ???
22:00 We go to bed – zzzzzz!!!!
05:00 I get up early and do one
of my routine Danish vocabulary tests. Afterwards 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 get up. We eat breakfast.
09:00 We speak a little on Skype
with Sarah, our youngest daughter and her 3-year-old twins, Lily and Jessica.
The family, including Francis, Sarah's husband, moved to Perth in
Australia a year ago. It is a lot of fun to talk with them and see the twins' latest
clothes, toys, DVD cases, etc., the flowers they have picked in the garden this
morning etc etc !!! They have fun showing us as much as possible before we have
to say goodbye - no doubt about it !!!
we talk a little on Skype with Sarah
and her twins in Australia
The family's doctor thinks that
Francis unfortunately has a hernia and needs surgery. It will be very difficult
for the family, because it is currently Francis that looks after the twins in
the week. Sarah must find out if there is a suitable childminder in the
neighborhood. My god, poor Francis. It's a bit painful for him at the moment
when he has to scoop the twins up, I'm sure of that.
12:00 We eat lunch. Lois has
decided that she will not go to church today. The sun is shining and it is low
in the sky, making it difficult to drive because of her cataracts. Her friends,
Maggie and Mari-Ann are not going to church today - Maggie has a migraine, and
Mari-Ann has been invited to her niece's 50th birthday celebration. It is
fortunate that the church has recently begun to broadcast its divine services
on the Internet.
13:00 I go to bed and take a
gigantic afternoon nap - zzzzzz !!!! Meanwhile Lois sits down in front of the
computer and listens to the afternoon's service on the net.
15:00 I get up and we relax with
a cup of tea on the sofa.
15:30 I sit at the computer and
begin writing the newsletter we will attach to the Christmas cards we are sending
off this year. I also choose 4 photos. Lois and I both turned 70 this year, so
I chose a photo of me, taken on March 26 in Stamford in the county of
Lincolnshire, where we both froze on the trail of Danish immigrants who founded
a town there in the 10th century.
My second photo was taken on June
6 in Perth, where Lois and I celebrated her 70th birthday in a revolving
restaurant on the 33rd floor of a high building near the waterfront.
The third photo is of Sarah and
the twins in the Swan Valley, just outside of Perth, and the fourth photo is one of
Alison and her children when they visited us in June.
This was our year in a nutshell -
my god!
That was our year in a nutshell -
my god! Where have the years gone? Crumbling, crumbling between our fingers,
while perspectives are changing without us noticing - I'm quite sure of that!!!
I look a little on the net and I
see an aerial view of the former workplace where I worked for 32 years before
it was demolished about 10 years ago .
an aerial view of my former
workplace,
before it was demolished around 10 years ago
- oh dear!
I think of the good days, the bad
days, the dull days, the exciting days that I spent in one or other building
that made up the whole. These buildings were my life for 32 years, but now they
are all torn down and smashed into tiny atoms. At least Lois and I can still go over there to shop every
week - it has become a Sainsbury’s supermarket. Hoorah!
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