Danskcolin: Friday, February 22 2019

08:45 Lois and I drive over to Oxford to spend the day with our friends Jen and Bill, who live in Kennington, a small suburb of Oxford. The sun is shining as we leave, but unfortunately it all becomes a bit of a nightmare journey after the first 15 minutes - it gets very foggy and keeps on being foggy for the rest of the journey - damn!

12:00 We have lunch and talk all day with Jen and Bill.

Lois and Jen are very old friends, so of course they get on very well with each other. They like to talk about the old days, and also Lois always helps Jen in the kitchen with making the lunch.

This is a bit of bad news for me because it means I have to sit in the living room and talk to Bill. I find Bill quite a challenge to talk to - he does not have much of a sense of humour and in my opinion he has a rather boring personality, unlike Jen who is so lively - damn!

The worst part is that he tends to suddenly ask me religious questions out of the blue, or tell me about some religious book he's reading. Today, he tells me several times that God has often blessed him during his life, and he begins to explain why he believes this. But I try to change the subject as soon as I think that that is acceptable, so I still don't know in what way he was blessed, which is a bit of a shame maybe, or maybe not - but I’m going to let that one slide.

It helps me that Bill suffers from mild dementia, which means he is not as good as me when it comes to verbal gymnastics, which is a bit of a relief, to put it mildly!

Flashback to the 1960’s: Bill and Jen in happier times

1969: My friend Paul, and me (in the white shirt) talking to Jen, who’s standing

next to her white Austin Mini-traveller. We are waiting in line for the ferry

to take us back to Portsmouth from the Isle of Wight

15:00 We say goodbye to Jen and Bill and drive home - unfortunately, the traffic is much heavier than usual, for some reason - damn! By the time we arrive home, I feel completely exhausted, which is a bit of a shame.

16:30 We get home and relax with a cup of tea and a biscuit on the sofa. I take a little look online and I see some charming pictures of our 5 grandchildren. Our elder daughter, Alison, and her family, are spending a few days in Paris with one of the families they got to know during their 6-year stay in Copenhagen (2012-2018).

Alison's family looks around Paris earlier today:

Josie (12), Rosalind (10) and Isaac (8), with Alison

Sarah, our younger daughter, who lives in Perth, Australia, along with Francis and their 5-year-old twins, has given Lois and me access to the primary school site that showcases news about the twins' schooldays: today we see pictures of the twins, Lily and Jessie, along with their classmates during a science lesson, in which the class apparently found out how much the class's pets had grown and also learned about the five senses. The twins started full-time school at the beginning of the month.

Lily, Jessie (the fair-haired pair to the far right, second from front)

and their classmates in a science class

18:00 We have dinner - we are tired and choose a couple of low fat ready meals which we bought the other day at CookShop.

We see a little television. An old episode of Top of the Pops is on, from April 30, 1987. The programme’s hosts are the charming Peter Powell and Steve Wright.

I am absolutely sure I saw this episode when it was first aired in 1987 because I recorded some of the songs on VHS (and later converted them to DVD recordings, which I still possess and watch from time to time, I’m almost ashamed to admit – my god, what madness!).

The poet Labi Siffre's "So Strong" was not one of the songs I recorded because I didn't like it, but I still remember admiring the upper arms of the saxophonist, who popped up out of nowhere to perform the so-called "sax break ” in the middle of the song.

Many women do not like their upper arms when they get a bit chubby in their 30’s and 40’s, but I think they can be quite attractive. Call me crazy if you like! [You're crazy - Ed.]

A fair-haired saxophonist with plump arms comes out of nowhere

to perform the so-called "sax-break" in the middle of the song

I saw this programme on April 30 1987, and 2 days later I was on a plane on my way to the US on a business trip.

My visa and my old-fashioned blue passport, from the time when they had not yet started

to issue those new-fangled dark red EU passports to us all

After finishing the business week, I visited my late sister Kathy and her husband, Steve, in their Washington DC apartment, and we enjoyed the spring sunshine while looking round the surrounding area. Later, I visited my former neighbours on Leafy Screen, Columbia MD, where Lois and I lived for 3 years 1982-1985, along with our 2 young daughters.

me and my sister Kathy

Kathy with her husband, Steve

I grab a beer in Kathy and Steve's backyard

Our former neighbours on Leafy Screen, Columbia Md:

Steve, Suzy, Marilyn and Ed

Happy days !!!!!!

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

Danish translation

08:45 Vi kører over til Oxford for at tilbringe dagen med vores venner Jen og Bill, der bor i Kennington, en lille forstad til Oxford. Solen skinner da vi tager af sted, men desværre bliver det hele til lidt af en mareridt-rejse efter de første 15 minutter – det bliver meget tåget og blev ved med at være tåget resten af rejsen: pokkers!

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og snakker hele dagen med Jen og Bill. Lois og Jen er meget meget gamle venner, så selvfølgelig kommer de meget meget godt ud af det med hinanden. De kan godt lide at snakke om de gamle dage, også Lois hjælper altid Jen i køkkenet med at lave frokost. Dette er lidt af en dårlig nyhed for mig, fordi det betyder, at jeg skal sidde i stuen og tale med Bill. Jeg finder Bill ganske lidt af en udfordring at snakke med – han ejer ikke en humoristisk sans og efter min mening har han en temmelig kedelig personlighed, i modsætning til Jen, der er så livlig – pokkers!

Det værste er, at han har tendens til pludselig at stille mig religiøse spørgsmål ud af det blå, eller fortælle mig om en eller anden religiøs bog, han er i gang med at læse. I dag fortæller han mig flere gange, at Gud ofte i løbet af hans liv har velsignet ham, og han begynder at forklare, hvorfor han tror dette. Men jeg prøver at skifte emnet, så snart jeg synes, der er acceptabelt, så ved jeg stadig ikke, hvilken måde han blev velsignet på, hvilket er lidt af en skam måske, eller måske ikke – men det springer jeg over. Det hjælper mig, at Bill lider af mild demens, hvilket betyder, at han ikker er så dygtig som mig til verbal gymnastik, hvilket er lidt beroligende, for at sige mildt!

Tilbageblik til 1960’erne: Bill og Jen i lykkeligere tider

1969: min ven Paul og jeg står og snakker med Jen ved siden af hendes hvid

Austin Mini-traveller. Vi venter i kø på færgen, der skal transportere os

tilbage til Portsmouth fra Isle of Wight

15:00 Vi siger farvel og kører hjem – desværre er trafikken meget kraftigere,end normalt, af en eller anden grund – pokkers! Da vi kommer hjem, føler jeg mig helt udkørt, hvilket er lidt af en skam.

16:30 Vi kommer hjem og slapper af med en kop te og en kiks i sofaen. Jeg kigger lidt på nettet, og jeg ser nogle charmerende billeder af vores 5 børnebørn. Vores ældste datter, Alison, sammen med sin familie, tilbringer nogle dage i Paris hos en af de familier, de lærte at kende uder deres næsten 6-års ophold i København (2012-2018).

Alisons familie ser sig om i Paris tidligere på dagen

Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth, Australien, sammen med Francis og deres 5-årige tvillinger, har givet Lois og mig adgang til det websted, der fremviser nyheder om tvillingernes skoledage: i dag ser vi billeder af tvillingerne, Lily og Jessie, sammen med deres klassekammerater under en videnskabstime, hvor klassen fandt ud af, hvore meget klassens kæledyr var vokset, og også lærte om de 5 sanser. De startede i skole i begyndelsen af måneden.

Lily, Jessie og deres klassekammerater i gang med en videnskabstime

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad – vi er dødtrætte og vælger et par fedtfattige færdigretter, som vi forleden købte hos CookShop.

Vi viser lidt fjernsyn. De viser et gamle afsnit af Top of the Pops fra den 30. april 1987. Programmets værter er de charmerende Peter Powell og Steve Wright.

Jeg er helt sikker på at jeg så dette afsnit, da det først blev sendt i 1987, fordi jeg optog nogle af sangene på VHS (og senere konverterede dem til DVD – optagelser, som jeg stadig ejer og ser på fra tid til anden, skammer jeg mig næsten ved at indrømme – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!

Digteren Labi Siffres ”So Strong” var ikke en af de sange, jeg optog, fordi jeg ikke kunne lide den, men jeg kan stadig huske, at jeg beundrede overarmene af den saxofonist, der dukkede frem fra ingen steder for at opføre det såkaldte ”sax break” midt i sangen. Mange kvinder kan ikke lide sine overarme, når de bliver lidt buttede i 30’erne og 40’erne, men jeg synes, de kan være ganske attraktive. Kald mig skør, hvis du har lyst ! [Du er skør – red.]

en lyshåret saxophonist med buttede arme dukker frem fra ingen steder

og opfører det såkaldte ”sax-break” midt i sangen

Jeg så dette program den 30. april, og 2 dage senere sad jeg på et fly, på vej til USA på forretningsrejse.

Mit visa og mit gammeldags blå pas, fra dengang de endnu ikke var begyndt

at udstede de der nymodens mørkerøde EU-pas til os alle

Efter endt forretningsugen besøger jeg min afdøde søster Kathy og hendes mand, Steve, i deres lejlighed i Washington DC , og vi nyder forårssolskinnet, når vi ser os om i det omkringlæggende område. Senere besøger jeg mine tidligere naboer på Leafy Screen, Columbia MD, hvor Lois og jeg boede i 3 år 1982-1985, sammen med vores 2 unge døtre.