17:15 Lois kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury – Mari-Ann sætter hende af foran
huset. Hun har haft en meget travlt dag: 2 gudstjenester med frokostpause, og
bagefter kørte hun og Mari-Ann til en lille forstad til byen, hvor det lykkedes
dem at uddele ca.300 eksempler af kirkens seneste reklamepjecer med at skubbe
dem ind ad brevsprækker, for at ”sprede ordet”. Sikke et vanvid!!! Men de holdt
op med arbejdet, da det begyndte at regne, gudskelov.
Andy, den mest aktive medlem af kirkens ledelse, holdt begge prædikener i
dag, og underteksten var det samme – kirkemedlemmerne må blive ved med at holde
kirkens pop-up shop åbent efter slutningen af august, og ikke stoppe den, som
oprindeligt planlagt. Men jeg formoder, at mindretallet af kirkemedlemmerne,
der indvilliger i at bemande shoppen, har mere og mere svært ved at bidrage med
deres fritid til projektet. Vi får se!
Lois siger, at byens pop-up shop er det mest vellykede, ud af alle de
pop-up shopper, som kirken i de seneste få år har oprettet i England. Jeg
formoder, at det er på grund af shoppens udmærkede beliggenhed – lige i midten
af byens Højgade, en spytklat fra gadens vigtigste trafiklys, hvor folk krydser
fra den ene side til den anden. Jeg må også indrømme, at shoppens udseende er
udmærket med attraktive vinduesudstillinger osv. I lørdags var der en
rekord antal af besøgende, måske på grund af, at to nydelige unge kvinder i 20’erne
bemandede shoppen, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på. Sex sælger, siger de
kloge, og ja, muligvis.
Kirkens pop-up shop i bymidten
17:45 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og
tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles (10km). Hurra – nu ved jeg, at jeg kan blive rask
igen! Mens jeg cykler hører jeg 1945s bedste 30 sange, der var meget bedre, end
1946s sange, som jeg hørte i går. Måske i 1946 var sangforfatterne trætte efter
kaosset af krigen, men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på.
I 1945 eksisterede jeg kun som embryon – jeg er
født i marts den følgende år. Jeg har kun 4-5 billeder af mine forældre, der
daterer fra 1945, alle fra marts, da de giftede sig i byen Oxford – det var en
borgerlig vielse. Jeg har også to billeder af min far i sin militære uniform lige
foran Euston Station i London, to måneder før VE-Dag. Jeg var selv i samme
tilstand, som jeg bliver dagen efter min død – ikke eksisterende ha ha ha!!!!!
mine forældre på deres bryllupsdag
den 8. marts 1945
i baghaven af min mormors hus på Sankt Mariæ vej,
Oxford.
Min far havde dengang et overskæg, men jeg tror,
det kun var
et midlertidigt og kortvarigt eksperiment,
gudskelov
Min
far, i marts 1945, i sin militære uniform foran Euston Station i London.
I
baggrunden kan man se banegårdens berømte 72 fods (22m) højt dorisk propylæum,
Euston
Arch, der først i 1960’erne desværre blev revet ned,
på
trods af, en kampagne af en af mine yndlingsdigtere, John Betjeman.
Euston Arch i 1851
Euston Arch i 1896
Euston Arch i 1919
Euston Arch bliver desværre revet ned - en trist og skændig dag
19:00 Vi spiser aftensmad, lidt senere end normalt. Derefter smækker vi
benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Alan Bennett, den berømte engelske
dramatiker. BBC-kanalen sendte først dette program i 2009, da Bennett fyldte 75
år.
Vi hører anekdoter fra Bennetts barndom. Han kom godt ud af det med sine
forældre, hvilket han siger, var lidt af en ulempe. Han mindedes om Philip
Larkins mest vellykkede digt: ”De fucker dig op, din mor og far”, men han
synes, at sådanne forældre giver deres sønner og døtre noget, de kan skrive om
senere på livet. Hvis du godt kan lide dine forældre, fucker de dig godt og
grundigt op, fordi du så ikke har noget, du kan skrive om.
Han mener, at forfattere og kunstnere (eksempelvis Auden, Britten osv)
bliver i alderdommen hæmmet af deres egne omdømme, og det bliver svært at skabe
nye værker, der ikke ligner deres gamle værker. I sit eget tilfælde synes han,
at han er blevet hæmmet ikke af sin kunstneriske omdømme, man af den udbredte
syn, at han er ”en sød mand”. Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!
22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg falder hurtigt i søvn, som normalt, men Lois ligger
og døser bare indtil kl 2, da hun hopper
op i vores sædvanlige dobbeltseng og læser lidt – endelig falder hun i søvn.
05:00 Jeg står op og laver en af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.
I dag er vores ældste datter Alisons, og vores svigerson Eds 18.
bryllupsdag. De giftede sig for 18 år
siden i den lokale anglikanske kirke i landsbyen Prestbury. De bor nu i
København.
Tilbageblik til august 1999: Ali og Eds bryllup
Lige før brylluppet – Ali og jeg var alene i huset og ventede på bilen.
Jeg
delte en sidste privat øjeblik med hende i vores entréen
for
sidste gang som far og single ældste datter.
Det
er faktisk min mest følelsesmæssige minde fra dagen
Lois
og jeg
(fra venstre til højre) min mor, Steve (min bror),
Steve
(min svigermor) og Kathy (min søster)
07:45 Jeg hopper op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi går
i bad og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad.
10:00 Jeg går ud i baghaven og klipper endnu en af baghavens mest
overgroede buske – Lois kender ikke buskens navn. Jeg vinder kampen med Colin
1, ukendt busk 0.
Colin
1 Uidentificeret Busk 0
Det meste af busken er nu på græsplænen, og det vil nu blive endnu sværtere
at identificere, fordi hovedparten af den er beskåret – jeg skal rydde de
klippede grene op i morgen, når jeg har mere tid (og energi). Resultat! Bolden
er i nettet!!!! Hævn er sød.
12:00 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter skal vi
ud. Lois har indvilliget i, at hjælpe med at bemande sin kirkes pop-up
shop midt i byen Tewkesbury. Jeg kører hende over til byen og sætter hende af
overfor byens biblotek. Jeg kører hjem og går i seng for at tage mig en
gigantisk eftermiddagslur.
15:00 Jeg står op og slapper af med en kop te.
Rose, Lois’s tidligere arbejdskollega, ringer til mig. Hun har en dårlig
nyhed. Den lokale lægeklinik, der kun ligge en spytklat fra vores hus, bliver
revet ned næste år, og lægerne vil åbne en ny klinik i landsbyen Bishops
Cleeve, hvilket gør mig gal i skralden!
Vores landsby er propfyldt af ældre
mennesker, der nu vil måtte rejse til Bishops Cleeve (og man skal tage to adskilte
busser, hvis du ikke kører bil). Lægerne i vores klinik kan ikke lide de lokale
ældre mennesker, fordi det er dyrt at behandle dem – de vil flytte til et område med flere yngre mennesker, der ikke har så meget brug
for medicin – det ved jeg med sikkerhed!!!!
Pokkers – de er
sådan nogle sjufter!!!!! Vores sundhedssystem i Storbritannien er en katastrofe
– det har jeg ikke nogen tvivl om !!!!
uddrag fra
en typisk artikel i klinikkens nyhedsbrev
De er sådan nogle
sjufter!!!!
16:15 Jeg skal ud. Pop-up shoppen lukker kl 16:30 og jeg må hente Lois kl
16:45 i byens store parkeringsplads og kører hende hjem igen.
English translation
17:15 Lois returns from Tewkesbury - Mari-Ann drops her off in front
of the house. She had a very busy day: 2 church services with lunch break,
after which she and Mari-Ann drove to a small suburb of the town, where they
managed to distribute some 300 copies of the church's latest advertising
leaflets by pushing them through letter boxes to "spread the word".
What madness !!! But they stopped working when it started to rain, thank goodness.
Andy, the most active member of
the Church's leadership, gave both sermons today, and the subtext was the same
- church members must keep the church's pop-up shop open after the end of
August, and not stop it as originally planned. But I suspect that the minority
of church members who volunteer to staff the shop are finding it more and more
difficult contributing their free time to the project. We'll see!
Lois says that the town's pop-up
shop is the most successful out of all the pop-up shops that the church has set
up in England in the last few years. I suppose it's because of the excellent
location of the shop - right in the middle of the town's high street, in
spitting distance of the street's main traffic lights where people cross from
one side to the other. I also have to admit that the appearance of the shop is
excellent with attractive window displays, etc. On Saturday there was a record
number of visitors, perhaps because two attractive young women in their 20's
were manning the shop, but that's something I'm not completely sure about. Sex
sells, say wise men, and yes perhaps.
the church’s pop-up shop in the
town-centre
17:45 I hop up on my exercise
bike and clock up another 6 miles (10km). Hurrah - now I know I can get fit
again! While I ride, I listen to 1945's best 30 songs, much better than 1946's
songs, which I listened to yesterday. Perhaps in 1946 the songwriters were
tired after the chaos of the war, but that's something I'm not entirely sure
about.
In 1945 I only existed as an
embryo - I was born in March the following year. I only have 4-5 pictures of my
parents dating from 1945, all from March when they got married in the city of
Oxford - it was a civil wedding. I also have two pictures of my father in his
military uniform just in front of Euston Station in London, when it was still two
months before VE-Day. I was myself in the same state as I will be the day after
my death - non-existent ha ha ha !!!!!
My parents on their wedding
day on March 8, 1945
in the back yard of my grandmother's house
in St. Mary's Road, Oxford.
My father had a moustache at the time, but I
think it was only
a temporary and short-lived experiment,
thank goodness
My father, in March 1945, in his military
uniform in front of Euston Station in London.
In the background you can see the railway
station's famous 72 foot (22m) high doric propyleneum,
Euston Arch, which was unfortunately torn
down in the 1960s,
in spite of a campaign by one of my favorite
poets, John Betjeman.
Euston Arch in 1851
Euston Arch in 1896
Euston Arch in 1919
1961: Euston Arch is unfortunately torn down - a sad and shameful day
19:00 We have dinner a little
later than usual. Then we stick our feet up in front of the television. An
interesting documentary is on, all about Alan Bennett, the famous English
dramatist. The BBC channel first aired this program in 2009 when Bennett turned
75 years of age.
We hear anecdotes from Bennett's
childhood. He got on well with his parents, which he said was a bit of a
disadvantage. He recalled Philip Larkin's most successful poem: "They fuck
you up, your mum and dad," but he thinks that such parents give their sons
and daughters something they can write about later on in life. If you like your
parents, they well and truly fuck you up because you do not have anything you
can write about.
He finds that authors and artists
(for example, Auden, Britten, etc) get shackled in old age by their own
reputations, and it becomes difficult to create new works that do not resemble
their old works. In his own case, he thinks he has been shackled not by his
artistic reputation, but by the widespread view that he is "a nice
man". Good grief, what a crazy world we live in !!!!
22:00 We go to bed. I fall asleep
quickly as usual, but Lois just lies there and dozes until 2 o'clock when she
decides to hop into our usual double bed and reads a little - finally she falls
asleep.
05:00 I get up and do one of my
routine Danish vocabulary tests.
Today is our elder daughter Alison's,
and our son-in-law Ed's 18th wedding anniversary. They married 18 years ago in
the local Anglican church in the village of Prestbury. They now live in
Copenhagen.
flashback to August 1999: Ali and Ed's
wedding
Just before the wedding - Ali
and I were alone in the house waiting for the car.
I shared a last private moment with her in
our entrance-hall
for the last time as a father and single
elder daughter.
It's actually my most emotional memory from
the day
Lois and I
(from left to right) my mother,
Steve (my brother),
Steve (my brother-in-law) and Kathy (my
sister)
07:45 I hop into bed with Lois
and we drink our morning tea. We go in the shower and get up. We eat breakfast.
10:00 I go out into the back
garden and cut back one of the most overgrown shrubs in the garden - Lois does not
know the name of the shrub. I win the match, final score Colin 1, Unidentified Shrub 0.
Final score: Colin 1 Unidentified Shrub 0
Most of the bush is now on the
lawn, and it will now be even harder to identify because the majority of it has
been cut down - I will have to clear away the cut branches tomorrow when I have
more time (and energy). Result! Back of the net !!!! Revenge is sweet.
12:00 We have lunch and
afterwards we have to go out. Lois has agreed to help man her church's pop-up
shop this afternoon in the middle of Tewkesbury. I drive her over
to the town and drop her off opposite the town's library. I drive home and go
to bed to take a gigantic afternoon nap.
15:00 I get up and relax with a
cup of tea.
Rose, Lois's former colleague,
calls me. She has a piece of bad news. The local medical clinic, which is in
spitting distance from our house, is being demolished next year, and the
doctors will be opening a new clinic in the village of Bishops Cleeve, which
makes me furious!
Our village is stuffed full of
older people who will now have to travel to Bishops Cleeve (and you have to
take two separate buses if you do not drive a car). The doctors in our clinic
do not like the local elderly people because it is expensive to treat them -
they want to move to an area with more younger people who do not need so much
medicine - I know that for sure !!!!
Damn - they are such bastards
!!!!! Our health system in the UK is a disaster - that's something I have no
doubts about !!!!
Excerpt from a typical article in
the clinic's newsletter
They are such bastards !!!!
16:15 I have to go out. The
pop-up shop closes at 4:30pm and I have to pick Lois up at 4:45pm in the town's
big parking lot and drive her home again.
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