Thursday, January 17 2019

08:00 Lois and I take a shower, and after breakfast  Lois goes around the corner to visit Rose, her former work colleague. She is older than us (by about 10 years?), and she has occasionally suffered from mild depression. And Lois says Rose has become very thin - she tends to lack appetite. But she always quickly becomes cheerful after a short chat with Lois - they can have fun talking about the old days at the nursing home for retired Anglican vicars, where they both worked.

Flashback to 1995: Rose (far left) and Lois (far right) in happier times:

with the other care home cleaners and kitchen assistants,

all dressed as schoolgirls for Red Nose Day (a charity event).

As far as we know, none of the care home’s vicars suffered heart attacks during the event

11:00 Meanwhile, I jump up on my fitness bike and ride 9 miles, which is a little more than my normal 6 miles. Lois and I tend to watch a lot of television programmes on health and fitness, and this week we were reminded of the healthcare guidelines that recommend 150 minutes of brisk exercise a week. After 30 minutes, I jump down from my bike and do some light weight-training.

Then I perfect the arrangement of the furniture in the living room, where our U3A Danish group will be gathered this afternoon at 2:30 pm. I move the couch, and the other armchairs and dining chairs in a circle, to maximise the hopefully friendly atmosphere – today there will be 6 of us in total. After the group's (hopefully) lively meeting, I will have to transform the living room back again into a living room suitable for 2 dozy old crows who nap in front of the TV in the evenings ha ha!

12:00 Lois comes back. We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 2 pm and prepare for our Danish group's fortnightly meeting.

14:30  Members arrive, including Patti, a new member. It turns out that both Patti's father and her mother were Danes, but the whole family, including Patti as a very young child, fled to England in 1940, at the time of the German invasion of Denmark. Her parents decided to speak just English both at home and outside, so people wouldn't suspect they were Germans. That’s why Patti cannot speak very much Danish, it seems.

We kick-start our next project, "The Further You Fall", a Danish crime novel by Anna Grue. We take turns to read a paragraph and translate it into English. Jeanette, our only genuine Danish member, corrects our pronunciation.

"The Further You Fall", the Danish crime novel that is

our U3A Danish group's new project

In this first chapter, the killer is the narrator, which means that we are not sure whether it is a man or a woman, which is nice. The killer has hidden away somewhere, dressed in a lot of protective clothing, in a small room adjacent to the kitchen of a corporate headquarters: there are louvre-doors between this small room and the kitchen, and he or she is thus able to watch his victim before jumping out to do the garrotting.

Group members are impressed by some of the author's descriptions that are often quite imaginative, to say the least. The murderer's boiler-suit, for example, "rustles like a festival tent in stormy weather".

The Danes, especially the younger ones, love their festivals, no doubt about that. When summertime comes knocking at  the door, many Danes begin to get itchy feet to go off to one of these glorious Danish festivals. Long days with lots of great music, beer, good atmosphere, sunshine (maybe), companionship, no sleep ... what's not to like?

And the most optimal thing is to have some sort of base during the festival, where you can crash, hang out, keep your things ... and maybe get a nap every now and then. So it’s a must to have a good festival tent with you, in other words

festival tents at a typical Danish campsite

during Roskilde's famous annual pop festival

Pop music festivals and other music festivals are, a much more powerful and more all-pervasive tradition in Denmark than in the UK, I think. The term "like a festival tent in stormy weather" is something that most Danes could relate to probably, but it would be a little meaningless to most British readers – that’s  for sure.

16:00 The meeting ends, but members stay sitting in the living room and talk about this and that. We are all older people, so the conversation focuses on one or other variety of health problems - including how to find good chiropractors, dentists, etc. - yikes! After 20 minutes, they leave, and Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening listening to the radio and watching some television. First, an interesting radio programme about Samuel Beckett, the famous writer and playwright. The host of the programme is the charming Melvyn Bragg.

For my part, as someone who writes a blog, in which day in and day out almost nothing  happens, it is interesting to hear about a playwright whose most famous play ("Waiting for Godot") can also be characterised as a play where in the first act nothing much happens, and in the second act it  happens again. We have his famous quote - "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing-new", a phrase he wrote in his hide-out in Roussillon when in France on the run from the Germans during World War II.

I can also relate to Beckett's characters, who do not move about very much, or do so only with difficulty. Also people who, while reading a book, are suddenly fixated on a certain paragraph and cannot go either back or forward. "Comment c'est, l'image" describes the adventures of an anonymous narrator, who’s crawling through mud while pulling a sack of canned food - such is life sometimes, I have to admit. And in "Endgame" we see two characters stuck in trash cans, from which they occasionally peek their heads out to talk, like Oscar the Grouch in Sesame Street.

Sesame Street's "Oscar the Grouch"

But Beckett's works are not pessimistic at all, I think. People are mostly eager to get on with their lives, no matter what kind of environment they have to deal with. Nell, one of the two characters in garbage cans, says, "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that ... Yes, yes, it's the most comical thing in the world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the beginning. But it's always the same thing. Yes, it's like the story we have heard too often, we still find it funny, but we don't laugh any more."

Lois and I did not know that Beckett, although he was a (Protestant) Irishman, was also an enthusiastic cricketer. We cannot help but notice that it is typical of, for example, some of those 5-day cricket matches, that very little happens on the first day, where the two teams are in the process of sizing each other up, and later, on on the 2nd day, the same thing happens again. Can it be that Beckett got the bulk of his inspiration, and his love of curbed enthusiasm, just from watching cricket matches?

I do a little research online and I find that I'm not the first to have this idea about the cricket connection. See Padraig Colman's web article "Language is a virus from outer space" (February 2015).

Beckett, No. 2 from the left, with his school's cricket team in 1920

Writing a blog tends to remind me that most days not very much happens. However, it does give me pleasure to write about that nothing - I can practice my Danish, and it is a good record of our life, which Lois and I can consult if we want to date some event In the past. I write to please myself of course, not to please others – it would be very boring to write just to please others, I have no doubts about that.

Lois and I like the title of Beckett's final work, a poem he wrote in his old age, in 1988. "Comment dire" or in English "What's the word?" (my italics). The poem addresses an inability to find the right word with which to express oneself. We can both relate to that, no doubt about that !!!!!

21:00 We turn off the radio and watch some television. An interesting documentary (part 1 of 3) about American history, and some of the widespread unhistorical myths on the subject. This first episode is about the War of Independence. The programme host is Lucy Worsley, not my favourite presenter, but I’m going to let that one slide.

We hear about the many colourful stories, iconic events and anecdotes from the war - some of them myths, some of them fictional creations, some of them mixtures of truth and myth: stories about the Boston tea party, Paul Revere, the image of the part-time army of farmers, the Battle of Yorktown, the Molly Pitcher Myth, the Freedom Bell, are in many cases either myths, or, to a lesser or greater degree,  corrupted by myths.

Molly Pitcher during the Battle of Monmouth (1778), helping out the men

Lois and I are not very surprised to hear all this - it is a fact that people love myths and myths are often a powerful expression of what people want to believe, which is interesting in itself. But we are a little surprised to see various presidents refer to these myths or half-myths, as if they were facts, in their speeches: George W Bush, Obama, Clinton, Reagan, etc.

It all leads us to realise how difficult it must have been to found a new country or a whole new kind of society, such as the United States or France, after their revolutions; and how important it was to inspire the people and make them feel proud of their achievement and to make sure they would not want to turn back the clock.

That's why myths like the Molly Pitcher story are so important. We are somewhat unfortunate in England or the UK, I think, in that our country has existed what seems like for ever, without any great turning point that we can create myths about. Poor us !!!!!

I discuss with Lois and the most recent similar myth we can come up with is Sir Francis Drake, playing bowls at Plymouth as the Spanish armada came sailing up the Channel, and insisting that there was time to finish the game and beat the Spaniards too. But even that was 400 years ago. Maybe there are other myths we have forgotten about - it's just our poor.... What's the word? Oh yes, our poor memories!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzz !!!!

Danish translation

08:00 Lois og jeg tager et brusebad, og efter morgenmad går Lois rundt om hjørnet for at besøge Rose, sin tidligere arbejdskollega. Hun er (ca 10 år?) ældre end os, og hun har nu og da ledt af mild depression. Og Lois siger, Rose er blevet meget tynd – hun har tendens til at mangle appetit. Men hun bliver altid hurtigt munter efter en kort snak med Lois - de kan have det sjovt sammen med at tale om de gamle dage på det plejehjem for pensionerede anglikanske præster, hvor de begge arbejdede.

Tilbageblik til 1995: Rose (længst til venstre) og Lois (længst til højre) i lykkeligere tider:

plejehjemmets rengøringsassistenter og køkkenassistenter

udklædte som skolepiger i anledning af Red Nose Day (en velgørende event).

Så vidt vi ved, havde ingen præster nogle hjerteanfald under dagen

11:00 I mellemtiden hopper jeg op på min kondicykelt og cykler 9 miles, hvilket er lidt mere end mine normale 6 miles. Lois og jeg har tendens til at se en masse tv-programmer om sundhed og fitness, og denne uge blev vi mindet igen om sundhedssystemets retningslinjer, der anbefaler 150 minutters rask motion om ugen. Efter 30 minutter hopper jeg ned af min kondicykel og laver lidt let vægttræning.

Jeg perfektionerer arrangementet af møblerne i stuen, hvor vores U3A danske gruppe skal samles i eftermiddag kl 14:30. Jeg rykker sofaen, og de andre lænestole og spisebordsstole i en cirkel, for at maksimere den venlige stemning – vi bliver i dag 6 i alt. Efter gruppens livlige møde bliver jeg nødt til at omdanne stuen igen til en stue egnet til 2 gamle krager, der om aftenen døser foran fjernsynet  ha ha!

12:00 Lois kommer tilbage. Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en kort eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 14 og forbereder på vores danske gruppes regelmæssige møde.

14:30 Medlemmerne ankommer, inklusive Patti, en ny medlem. Det viser sig, at både Pattis far og hendes mor var danskere, men hele familien, herunder Patti som et meget ungt barn, flygtede til England i 1940, ved tiden af den tyske invasion af Danmark. Hendes forældre besluttede bare at tale engelsk både hjemme og udenfor, så folk ikke ville mistænke, at de var tyskere. Derfor kan hun tale ikke ret meget dansk, lader det til.

Vi går i gang med vores næste projekt, ”Dybt at falde”, en dansk krimiroman af Anna Grue. Vi skiftes til at læse et afsnit og oversætte det engelsk. Jeanette, vores eneste ægte dansk medlem, retter vores udtale.

”Dybt af falde”, den danske krimiroman, der er

vores U3A danske gruppes nye projekt

I denne første kapitel er selve morderen fortælleren, hvilket betyder, at vi ikke er sikker på, om det gælder om en mand eller en kvinde, hvilket er rart. Morderen har skjult sig, klædt i en masse beskyttende tøj, i et rum, der støder op til køkkenet i et firmas hovedkvarter:  der er jalousilåger mellem dette lille rum og køkkenet og han/hun kan se på sit offer.

Gruppemedlemmer kan godt lide nogle af forfatterens beskrivelser, der nu og da er lidt fantasifulde, for at sige mildt. Morderens overtræksdragt, for eksempel, ”knitrer som et festivaltelt i stormvejr”.

Danskerne, især de yngre, elsker deres festivaler, ingen tvivl om det. Når sommeren så småt begynder at banke på døren, begynder det for mange danskere at krible i ørerne efter at komme af sted til de skønne danske festivaler. Flere dage med masser af fed musik, øl, god stemning, solskin (måske), kammeratskab, ingen søvn… Og dog. Og det er alligevel det mest optimale at have en base under festivalen, hvor man kan crashe, holde til, have sine ting… Og måske få en skraber i ny og næ. Dertil er det et must at have et godt festivaltelt med sig – et telt, der er godt egnet til at tage med på festival.

festivaltelte på en typiske campingplads

under Roskildes berømte årlige popfestival

Musikfestivaler er i høj grad en kraftigere og mere gennemgående tradition i Danmark, end i Storbritannien, synes jeg. Udtrykket ”som et festivaltelt i stormvejr” er noget, som de fleste danskere kunne relatere til måske, men det ville være lidt meningsløst for britiske læsere – det ved jeg med sikkerhed.

16:00 Mødet slutter, men medlemmer bliver siddende i stuen og snakker om dette og hint. Vi er alle ældre mennesker, så samtalen fokuserer på sundhedsproblemer af en eller anden art – også fysioterapeuter, tandlæger osv – yikes! Efter 20 minutter skal de af sted, og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og en kiks.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at lytte til radio og se lidt fjernsyn. For det første et interessant radioprogram, der handler om Samuel Beckett, den berømte forfatter og dramatiker. Programmets vært er den charmerende Melvyn Bragg.

For mit vedkommende, som en der skriver en blog hvor der dag ud dag ind sker næsten ikke noget er det interessant, at hører om en dramatiker, hvis mest berømte teaterstykke (”Mens vi venter på Godot”) også kan karakteriseres som et teaterstykke, hvor i den første akt sker der ikke ret meget, og i den 2. akt sker det hele engang til. Vi har hans kendte udtryk – ”The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing-new”, en sætning han skrev i sit skjulested i Roussillon på flugt fra tyskerne i den 2. verdenskrig.

Jeg kan også relatere til Becketts figurer, der bevæger sig ikke ret meget, eller bare med besvær. Folk som, mens de er i gang med at læse en bog, bliver pludselig fikseret på et vist afsnit og ikke kan læse frem eller tilbage. “Comment c'est, L'Image” beskriver eventyrene af en anonim fortæller, i færd med at kravle gennem mudder, mens han trækker en sække dåsemad – sådan er livet nogle gange, det må jeg indrømme. Og i ”Endgame” ser vi to figurer, der sidder fast i affaldsspande, hvorfra de lejlighedsvis titter hovedet frem for at tale, ligesom Oscar the Grouch i Sesame Street.  

Sesame Streets ”Oscar the Grouch”

Men Becketts værker er overhovedet ikke pessimistiske, synes jeg. Folk er for det meste ivrige efter at fortsætte med deres liv, unanset hvilke slags omgivelserne de skal klare sig med. Nell, en af de to figurer i affaldsspande, siger,” "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that. ... Yes, yes, it's the most comical thing in the world. And we laugh, we laugh, with a will, in the beginning. But it's always the same thing. Yes, it's like the funny story we have heard too often, we still find it funny, but we don't laugh any more."

Lois og jeg vidste ikke, at Beckett, selvom han var en (protestant) irer, var også en entusiastisk cricketspiller. Vi kan ikke undgå at bemærker, at det er typisk af eksempelvis nogle af de 5-dage cricketmatcher, at der sker ikke ret meget den 1. dag, hvor de to hold er i færd med at tage bestik af hinanden, og senere, på den 2. dag, sker der det samme igen osv. Kan det være, at Beckett skaffet hovedparten af sin inspiration og sin kærlighed for mangel på begejstring, fra at kigge på cricketmatcher?

Jeg gør lidt forskning på nettet, og jeg opdager, at jeg er ikke den første til at have denne idé. Se Padraig Colmans webartikel ”Language is a virus from outer space” (februar 2015).

Beckett, nr 2 fra venstre, med sin skoles crickethold i 1920

Det, at skrive en blog, har tendens til at minde mig om, at der de fleste dage sker ikke ret meget. Men det giver mig imidlertid glæde at skrive om det der intet – jeg kan øve mit dansk, og det er en god beretning om vores liv, som Lois og jeg kan bruge til at consultere, hvis vi har lyst til at datere et eller andet begivenhed i fortiden. Jeg skriver for at behage mig selv selvfølgelig, ikke for behage andre – hvor kedeligt må det være at skrive bare for at behage andre, det ved jeg med sikkerhed!

Lois og jeg kan godt lide titlen af Becketts sidste værk, et digt han skrev i sin alderdom, i 1988. ”Comment dire” eller på engelsk ”What’s the word?”. Digtet takler en manglende evne til at finde det rigtige ord til at udtrykke sig. Det kan vi begge to relatere til, ingen tvivl om det!!!!!

21:00 Vi slukker for radioen og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm (1. del af  3), der handler om amerikansk historie, og nogle af de udbredte uhistoriske myter om emnet. Dette første afsnit handler om uafhængighedskrigen. Programmets vært er Lucy Worsley, ikke min yndlingsvært, men det springer jeg over.

Vi hører om mange farverige historier, ikoniske hændelser og anekdoter, der stammer fra krigen – nogle af dem myter, nogle af dem fiktive skabelser, nogle af dem blandinger af sandhed og myte: historier om teselskabet i Boston, Paul Revere, den deltidshær af bondemænd, slaget ved Yorktown, Molly Pitcher-myten, Frihedsklokken, er alle i mindre eller større grad, enten myter, eller lidt korrupterede af myter.

Molly Pitcher under slaget ved Monmouth (1778), i gang med at hjælpe til

Lois og jeg er ikke særlig overrasket over at høre alt det her – det er en kendsgerning, at folk elsker myter, og myterne ofte er et kraftigt udtryk af hvad folk har lyst til at tro, hvilket er interessant i sig selv. Men vi er lidt overrasket at se forskellige præsidenter referere til disse myter eller halvmyter som om de var fakta i deres taler: George W Bush, Obama, Reagan osv.

Det hele fører os til at blive klar over, hvor svært det må have været at grundlægge et nyt land eller et helt nyt slags samfund, som USA eller Frankrig efter derse revolutioner;  og hvor vigtigt der var at inspirere folket og gøre dem til at føle sig stolte af den bedrift involveret, og ikke at have lyst til at vende uret tilbage.

Derfor er myter som Molly Pitcher-historien så vigtige. Vi er i vis grad lidt uheldige i Storbritannien, synes jeg, i at vores land har eksisteret i århundrede uden det slags stort vendepunkt, vi kan skabe myter om.  Stakkels os !!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!