Danskcolin: Søndag den 17. december 2017

09:30 Vi taler lidt på whatsapp med Sarah, vores datter i Perth, Australien, og med sine 4-årige tvillinger, Lily og Jessie. Det er rart at se hvor meget tvilllingerne er glade for at kunne vise os deres seneste kunstværker og danse for os. De taler bedre og bedre – om 2 måneder vil de starte deltid i en lokal børnehave i Mullaloo-området. Sarah og Francis har fundet nogle mulige huse i Mullaloo, som de har råd til at leje.

Sarah tager hendes smartphone med op til Francis’ studerekammer så vi kan sige hej og give ham vores bedste ønsker. Han gennemgik en operation i går for at få fjernet hele sin skjoldbruskkirtel, der havde knuder på. Sarah og Francis håber på, at de vil få patologiresultaterne næste uge, så de forhåbentlig kan koncentrere sig om at fejre jul uden bekymringer.

11:00 Lois skal ud. Hun ønsker at deltage i sin kirkes to gudstjenester, der finder sted i byen Tewkesburys bibliotek i bymidten.

byens bibliotek, hvor kirkemedlemmerne samles

For første gang i snart 15 måneder kører hun sig selv til biblioteket, og hun har ikke brug længere for, at jeg kører hende. I september 2016 var hendes grå stær så dårlige, at det ikke længere var sikkert, at hun kører bil, men hun gennemgik en succesfuld øjenoperation i september.

Pludselig føler jeg mig som om jeg flyder på en luftpude, mens det gradvist går op for mig, at jeg fremover vil have meget mere alenetid, og jeg nu kan klare meget flere opgaver på min gøremålsliste.

Det går op for mig, at jeg nu er okay, og intet kan nu gå galt. Intet kan skade mig. Følelsen får mig til at føle mig søvnig, og jeg gå i seng for at tage en formiddagslur – zzzzzz!!!!

12:30 Jeg står op, og spiser frokost. Det falder mig pludselig ind, at jeg har været alene i 2 timer, uden at klare en enkelt opgave på min liste. Med ét går jeg i gang med at stryge mine skjorter, pyjamas og undertøj, hvilket er nummer 1 på min gøremålsliste.

14:00 Jeg pakker mine julegaver til Lois ind, nr 2 på listen. Ha ha ha, nu gør jeg fremskridt baby!

14:30 Steve, min amerikanske svigerbror, har sendt mig en interessant email, der handler om mummespilfestivaler i den engelsktalende verden. Traditionen startede i middelalderen, men måske stammer fra festivaler i romerriget: mænd og kvinder byttede påklædning, tog masker på, sang, dansede, besøgte naboerne, satte skøre teaterstykker op, gik generelt aok. Festivalerne ofte skete lige før jul, for eksempel på Sanktthomasdag, årets korteste dag, der lige nu overhænger os.

en typisk mummespilstykke i Gloucestershire.

I dette eksempel gik det hele tragisk forkert ha ha ha!

Men jeg spøger kun - blodet er ikke ægte ha ha ha (igen) !!!!

Ifølge Steves email, er der en årlig mummersdagparade i Philadelphia, der varer 6 timer – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

en typisk mummersdagparade i Philadelphia.

Det hele varer 6 timer – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

Mummersdag har altid haft forskellige gamle børnerim, der er associeret med festivalen:

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man’s hat

Jeg arbejdede engang i en amerikanske arbejdsplads. De fleste af mine kollegaer var amerikanere, men der var også australiere og kanadiere. Det var det perfekte sted, hvor jeg kunne gøre lidt forskning om skolegårdssprog, et emne jeg altid har været interesseret i.

Skolegårdssprog er måske den mest konservative del af det engelske sprog, og skolebørn kender rimer og traditioner, der nogle tider er hundredvis af år gamle. Min teori er, at børn altid er ivrige efter at kopiere de børn, der er lidt ældre, end dem, så de kan lyde ældre og se ældre ud, end de virkelig er. Således bliver børnerim og traditioner gentaget og videregivet fra den ene generation til den næste.

Der er mange børnerim associerede med opgaven at vælge et eller andet fra en gruppe børn, for at spille en speciel rolle i en børneleg, for eksempel, som ”one potato, two potato...”, ”eeny meeny miney mo” osv.

Hvis mine amerikanske, australske osv arbejdskollegaer kunne huske disse børnerim fra deres barndom, kom jeg til den konklusion, at rimene var i det mindste 200 år gamle, og sandsynligvis ældre.

16:00 Lois kommer hjem igen og vi slapper af med en kop te i sofaen.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn. Vi ser de resterende 45 minutter af et interessant drama, baseret på en sandfærdig historie fra det 18. århundrede, ”Den skandaløse Lady W”.

Historien handler om et ægtepar, Lord og Lady Worsley. Lord Worsley er MP og medlem af regeringen, men han er også lidt af en voyeur. Han opfordrer sin kone mod hendes vilje til at have affærer med andre mænd, så han kan kigge på dem – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Til sidst forelsker hun sig i en af disse mændene, kaptajn George Bisset, og de løber væk sammen. Lord Worsley reagerer ikke ved at bede om en skilsmisse, men ved at sagsøge Bisset for 20.000£. Hvis juryen giver Lord Worsley medhold, vil Bisset sidde i en debitors fængsel til sine dages ende, og Worsley vil få sin hævn – stakkels Bisset!!!!

Det er interessant at se hvor meget det juridiske system dengang var forudindtaget mod kvinder, og juryens medlemmer var selvfølgelig alle mænd – kvinder var ikke tilladte dengang i juryboksen.

Lois og jeg bemærker en stribe af forskelle mellem de daværende juridiske procedurer og de nuværende. Det er interessant, at både sagsøgeren og den sagsøgte sad i adskilte alkover bag gardiner, men de kunne begge to se retssagen gennem en sprække i gardinet. Lidt voyeuristisk, og det minder os om den måde, Lord Worsley plejede at kigge på sin kone og hendes elskere – gennem et nøglehul ha ha ha!

Faktisk er hverken Worsley eller Bisset kaldt som vidnere af deres advokater. Bissets advokat bestemmer sig for at minimisere skadeserstatningerne – Worsley havde krævet 20.000£ kompensation fra Bisset for hans utroskab med Lady Worsley.

Bissets advokat forsøger at bevise, at Lady Worsley ikke var værd 20.000£, ved at kalde som vidnere alle Lady Worsleys andre 26 elskere. Dommeren bestemte, at vidnerne ikke skulle blive spørget, om de havde sex med hende, men de kunne alle erklære, at det var Lord Worsley, der præsenterede sin kone for dem. Og de kunne alle give indtryk af, at de have haft sex med hende, uden at sige det præcis.

Med enhver af de 26 vidner, viser programmagerne os en 5-sekunds klip af vidnen i gang med at give den gas i sengen med Lady Worsley, så det hele begynder at se ud som hovedpunkter i en tv-sportsprogram. Lois bemærker, at Lady Worsley aldrig smiler, bortset fra, når det er Bisset i sengen med hende, hvilket taler volumer ha ha ha!

Ved slutningen af retssagen giver juryen Lord Worsley kun en skilling som compensation – Lady Worsley kaster ham mønten og siger ham farvel.

Hun og Bisset bor sammen i nogle måneder, men senere gifter hun sig med en ung musiker, der er 20 år yngre end hende. Sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!!

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn. Vi ser de sidste 45 minutter af langsom-tvfilm vi så i går aftes, hvor to sami-kvinder, der krydser det nordlige Norge med 2 slæder trukket af rensdyr, 200 miles nord for den arktiske cirkel. Temperaturen er -6F (-21C) – brrrrrrrr!!!!

Ved slutningen af filmen ser vi det berømte nordlys. Jeg er overrasket at se, at det for det meste er grønt.

nordlyset i det nordlige Norge: brrrrr!!!!

men det må være dejlig varmt i teltet, gudskelov.

22:00 Vi går i seng. Jeg læser 9 sider af min sengetidbog, før jeg glider over i søvn – zzzzzzz!!!!

English translation

09:30 We talk a little on whatsapp with Sarah, our daughter in Perth, Australia, and with her 4-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie. It's nice to see how much the twins are happy to show us their latest artworks and to dance for us. They are talking better and better - in 2 months they will be starting part-time at a local kindergarten in the Mullaloo area. Sarah and Francis have found some possible houses in Mullaloo, that they can afford to rent.

Sarah takes her smartphone up to Francis's study so we can say hello and give him our best wishes. He underwent an operation yesterday to remove all of his thyroid gland, which had nodules present. Sarah and Francis hope that they will get the pathology results next week so they hopefully can concentrate on celebrating Christmas without worries.

11:00 Lois has to go out. She wants to attend her church's two services taking place today in Tewkesbury library in the town center.

the town library where the church members meet

For the first time in almost 15 months she drives herself to the library, and she no longer needs me to drive her. In September 2016 her cataract was so bad that it became no longer safe for her to drive a car, but she underwent a successful eye operation in September.

Suddenly, I feel like I'm floating on an cushion of air, while it gradually dawns on me that in the future I am going to have a lot more alone time and I can now do a lot more tasks on my to-do list.

It comes to me that I'm okay now, and nothing can go wrong. Nothing can hurt me. The feeling makes me feel sleepy and I go to bed and take a morning nap - zzzzzz !!!!

12:30 I get up and have lunch. I suddenly realize that I have been alone for 2 hours without completing a single task on my list. I immediately get started on ironing my shirts, pajamas and underwear, which is number 1 on my to-do list.

14:00 I wrap up my Christmas presents to Lois, No. 2 on the list. Ha ha ha, now I'm making progress baby!

14:30 Steve, my American brother in law, has sent me an interesting email all about mumming festivals in the English-speaking world. The tradition started in the Middle Ages, but may originate from Roman empire: men and women swapped dresses, put on masks, sang, danced, visited the neighbors, put on crazy plays, ran generally amok. The festivals often happened just before Christmas, for example on Saint Thomas's Day, the shortest day of the year that is currently imminent.

a typical mummer play in Gloucestershire.

In this example, it all goes tragically wrong, ha ha ha!

It's ok, the blood is fake ha ha ha!

According to Steve's email, there is an annual Mummers Day parade in Philadelphia, lasting 6 hours - my god, what madness !!!!

a typical mummers day parade in Philadelphia.

the whole thing lasts 6 hours - my god, what madness !!!!

Mummers Day has always had various children's rhymes associated with the festival:

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

I once worked in an American workplace. Most of my colleagues were Americans, but there were also Australians and Canadians. It was the perfect place to do a little research on schoolyard language, a subject I have always been interested in.

Schoolyard language is perhaps the most conservative part of the English language, and schoolchildren know rhymes and traditions that sometimes are hundreds of years old. My theory is that children are always eager to copy the children who are a little older than them, so they can sound older and look older than they really are. In this way children's rhymes and traditions are repeated and passed from one generation to the next.

There are many children's rhymes associated with the task of choosing out somebody from a group of children to play a special role in a children's game, such as "one potato, two potato ...", "eeny meeny miney mo", etc.

If my American, Australian etc colleagues could remember these children's children from their childhood, I came to the conclusion that the rhymes were at least 200 years old, and probably older.

16:00 Lois returns home and we relax with a cup of tea on the couch.

18:00 We have dinner and watch television. We see the remaining 45 minutes of an interesting drama based on a true 18th-century story, "The Scandalous Lady W".

The story is about a married couple, Lord and Lady Worsley. Lord Worsley is an MP and member of the government, but he is also a bit of a voyeur. He encourages his wife against her will to have affairs with other men so he can watch them - good grief, what madness!

Eventually, she falls in love with one of these men, Captain George Bisset, and they run away together. Lord Worsley does not react by asking for a divorce, instead he sues Bisset for £ 20,000. If the jury finds for Lord Worsley, Bisset will sit in a debtor's prison for the rest of his life, and Worsley will get his revenge - poor Bissett !!!!

It is interesting to see how much the legal system was biassed against women at that time and the jury members were of course all men - women were not allowed in the jury box at that time.

Lois and I notice a bunch of differences between the legal procedures then and the current ones. It is interesting that both the applicant and the defendant sat in separate alcoves behind curtains, but they could both see the trial through a crack in the curtain. A little voyeuristic and it reminds us of the way Lord Worsley used to look at his wife and her lovers - through a keyhole ha ha ha!

In fact, neither Worsley nor Bisset are called as witnesses of the lawyers. Bisset's lawyer decides to try to minimise the damages - Worsley had claimed £ 20,000 compensation from Bisset for his affair with Lady Worsley.

Bisset's attorney attempts to prove that Lady Worsley was not worth £20,000 by calling as witnesses all Lady Worsley's other 26 lovers. The judge decided that the witnesses should not be asked if they had sex with her, but they could all declare that it was Lord Worsley who introduced his wife to them. And they could all give the impression that they had sex with her without exactly saying so.

With each of the 26 witnesses, the program-makers show us a 5-second clip of the witness going at it in bed with Lady Worsley, so it all starts to look like the highlights of a television sports program. Lois notes that Lady Worsley never smiles, except when it's Bisset in bed with her, which speaks volumes ha ha ha!

At the end of the trial, the jury gives Lord Worsley gives only a shilling in compensation - Lady Worsley throws him the coin and bids him farewell.

She and Bisset live together for a few months, but later she marries a young musician who is 20 years younger than her. What a crazy world we live in !!!!!!

21:00 We continue to watch a bit of television. We watch the last 45 minutes of slow-tv movie we saw last night, where two Sami women cross northern Norway with 2 sleds drawn by reindeer 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The temperature is -6F (-21C) - brrrrrrr !!!!