10:30 Lois wants to participate in her sect’s two
services of worship today in Tewkesbury, but she has not yet decided whether to
drive herself or ask me to drive her over there. Until yesterday, when she
drove us both to the small town of Bishops Cleeve to do food-shopping, she
hadn't driven a car for 3-4 weeks because of her new glasses, which she had had
difficulty getting used to.
No decision yet, so I have no choice but to get ready to
drive her, just to be on the safe side. But at the last minute she says she is
going to pluck up courage and do it herself.
I hope she doesn't have any problems. The sun is shining
for once, so I recommend she wear her sunglasses: Cheltenham to Tewkesbury is
no problem, because the direction is northerly, but Tewkesbury to Cheltenham is
more difficult, in particular later in the day because the direction is
southerly - yikes, scary !
10:50 Lois goes out. I have a little alone time, so I resume
work on our mini-downsizing project - the aim is to get rid of the many unwanted
belongings that our daughter Sarah left behind, under beds and in wardrobes etc,
when she moved to Australia along with Francis and their 2 young children, in
December 2015.
“Getting rid of “ means deciding to either throw them
away, or donate them to some charity shop.
My priority this morning is to empty the storage space
under one of the 3 beds in our other daughter Alison's old room. I pull
everything out from under the bed - it's very much a mixed bag of things, to put it mildly,
including, for example, all Sarah's claims for expenses that she applied for more than
15 years ago – good grief, what madness!
But I also find some nostalgic things - good-bye cards
from some of her girlfriends etc when she moved to Australia etc. I get tears
in my eyes – sob, sob!
I pull out from under the bed some
of the unwanted belongings
our daughter Sarah left with us when she
moved to
Perth, Australia, along with Francis and
their young children, in December 2015
I also find Sarah's passport, which she used when I took
her and Alison to the United States in 1993 to stay with my sister Kathy and
her husband Steve in Norristown Pa., and also with the idea of meeting up with some of their old
school friends from 1982 -85 when we lived in Columbia Md.
1993 - Kathy and Steve's house in Norristown Pa USA: (left to right)
Alison (18), Kathy (45), Sarah (16) and me
(47)
in Kathy and Steve’s basement:
(from left to right) Alison, Sarah and me
at a local restaurant with Kathy and Steve - happy times!!!!
Sarah used the same passport in 1995 when she travelled
between Nairobi, Harare, Windhoek, etc. with a group of other young people, all
strangers at the beginning of the trip, just after she left high school and
before starting at Birmingham University. The passport has stamps from many
African countries, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar,
Kenya, Namibia, Botswana and the like. My god, how brave she was, at just 18 years of age - yikes!
Happy times, sob sob sob !!!
flashback to 1995: Sarah in Botswana
Fish River Canyon, Namibia
Cape Cross, Namibia
Victoria Falls
13:00 I have lunch and at the same time I see a little
television, an interesting documentary (part 1 of 5) all about the history of
London. The programme’s hosts are the charming Dan Jones, Suzannah Lipscomb and
Rob Bell.
An interesting programme starting in 55 BC, when Julius
Caesar and the Roman army arrived in the area and stayed for a short time over
here, and later in 43 AD, when the army began to establish their newest colony,
Britannia, in earnest . One of the first things they did was to build a bridge
near the current London Bridge. It became the city's only bridge for 1600 years
– my god, what madness !!!
The city's name is a bit of a mystery - it is very old -
almost certainly pre-Celtic and no one is absolutely sure what the name means. It
blows me away to think that some forgotten tribe that we know nothing about,
thousands of years ago, gave the city the name we still use today. How amazing!
When the invading Anglo-Saxons arrived in the area in the
400's after the Roman Empire collapsed, they, perhaps for superstitious reasons,
avoided settling in the ancient ruined Roman city with its city walls,
preferring instead to build a new, smaller town of wooden houses 1 mile west of
the original Roman town. They called the new town Lundenwic.
Unfortunately, Lundenwic had no city walls, which was a
bit of a disadvantage when the Vikings arrived in AD 850, or so. So the
Anglo-Saxons decided then it would be safer to move back into the ancient Roman
city and back to the protection of the ancient Roman walls. They abandoned Lundenwic
and thereafter referred to it as Aldwic, ie the old city. The area is still
called Aldwych today, which is nice.
And it is fascinating to see the map of London getting
bigger and bigger with the passing years.
the original city of London, in 47 AD, 4
years after
the founding of the new Roman colony of Britannia.
When the invading Anglo-Saxons arrived
after the Roman Empire collapsed,
they avoided settling in the ancient Roman
city and instead built their own new small town of
wooden houses, Lundenvic, 1 mile west of the old Roman
city walls,
16:00 Lois returns from Tewkesbury and we relax with a
cup of tea and a piece of bread with homemade greengage marmalade - yum yum!
We look out the window - it has started to hail and
shortly afterwards to snow. My god, what madness! But this week (on Tuesday),
the year's big horse racing festival, Gold Cup Week, will be taking place
just 1 mile away. The locals usually say that it is quite traditional to get
snow this week, and we recently heard on the radio that in the UK we are much
more likely to get snow in March than in February, which seems odd
It starts to hail and shortly afterwards
to snow
- my god, what madness !!!
18:00 We have dinner, including, for dessert, one of
Lois' homemade Christmas puddings, which happened to thaw out unintentionally
when our freezer broke down last month. Yum yum!
one of Lois' homemade Christmas puddings -
yum yum!
20:30 We talk a little on the phone with Alison, our elder
daughter, who lives in Haslemere with Ed and their 3 children. The family lived
in Copenhagen for almost 6 years, but they moved back to England last year. Ed
has been unemployed for several months and the family has been living off a
generous compensation package from Ed's former company. But it has now become rather
urgent for him to find a new job, and he has recently had a couple of job
interviews, with another one in the offing, which sounds promising.
21:00 We see a little television - a rather weird film called "Arcadia", all about getting back to nature and awakening our
inner child or (conversely) our inner devil, getting back in touch with the natural world, embracing
the carnal and that kind of thing.
We see a lot of old black-and-white movies about the old rural way of life out in the countryside, also old animalistic or satanic rural rituals,
nudism in the open air, Stonehenge festivals, fertility rituals,
devil worship, and suchlike.
It all looks like a lot of fun, but Lois and I are afraid
that at 72 years of age we have maybe left it too late to take up these
exciting new hobbies such as devil worship, but that’s something we are not
completely sure about - the jury is still out on that one.
Lois and I discuss the issue of nudism. We think it
became a bit of a craze in the 1930’s, as part of a general campaign to get
people to go out in the country, and into the open air, to do sports and take exercise,
go for walks in the woods, etc., with the aim of improving the health and
fitness of the Brits and that kind of thing.
In the 1950’s and 60’s, when Lois and I were children and
teenagers, nudism had become a bit of a joke for comedians such as Benny Hill
and the "Carry on" film franchise to make fun of. We used to watch
nudists play tennis for example, but strategically placed trees, flowers or other
objects always prevented the viewers from seeing anything saucy, which was
probably a good thing - but that’s something the jury's still out on.
Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) going
incognito in a nudist camp.
The Danes, of course, have always had a completely different attitude to nudism than us, to put it mildly!
This week is certainly not a good time for Lois and me to take up nudism, because of Gold Cup Week and all the associated traffic jams, etc. Next week maybe.
This week is certainly not a good time for Lois and me to take up nudism, because of Gold Cup Week and all the associated traffic jams, etc. Next week maybe.
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!!!
Danish
translation
08:30 Lois og
jeg tager et brusebad og efter morgenmad taler vi lidt på whatsapp med Sarah,
vores datter i Perth, Australien, og hendes 5-årige tvilinger, Lily og Jessie. Tvillingerne
er meget begejstrede – de har besøgt to legepladser i dag, fortæller de os, og
de har spist to is . Du godeste! Det er meget varmt og lummert derovre, lader
det til.
10:30 Lois
ønsker at deltage i sin sekts to gudtjenester i dag i Tewkesbury, men hun har
ikke besluttet endnu, om hun vil køre sig selv, eller beder mig om, at køre
hende derover. Indtil i går, da hun kørte os begge over til den lille by
Bishops Cleeve for at gå madindkøb, havde hun ikke kørt bil i 3-4 uger, på
grund af sine nye briller, som hun havde svært ved at vænne sig til.
Ingen beslutning
endnu, så jeg har ikke andet valg, end at forberede mig på at køre hende, for
en sikkerheds skyld. Men på sidste øjeblik siger hun, at hun skal tage mod til
sig og gøre det sig selv.
Jeg håber på,
at hun ikke har problemer. Solen skinner
for engangs skyld, så anbefaler jeg hende at tage sine solbriller med: Cheltenham til Tewkesbury er ikke noget problem,
fordi retningen er nordlig, men Tewkesbury til Cheltenham er mere svær i sær senere
på dagen, fordi retningen er sydlig – yikes, skræmmende!
10:50 Lois
skal ud. Jeg har lidt alenetid, så går jeg i gang med at genoptage vores
mini-downsize-projekt med det formål af, at blive fri for de mange uønskede
ejendele, som vores datter Sarah efterlod under senge og i garderober, da hun i
december 2015 flyttede til Australien, sammen med Francis og deres 2 små børn.
Dét, at ”blive
fri for de der mange ejendele” betyder dét, at beslutte enten at smide dem væk
eller donere dem til en eller anden velgørenhedsbutik.
Min prioritet
i formiddag er at tømme lagerummet under en af de 3 senge i vores anden datter
Alisons gamle værelse. Jeg trækker alting ud fra under sengen – det er en
blandet landhandel, for at sige mildt, inklusive for eksempel Sarahs krav til
udgifter, som hun ansøgte om for mere end 15 år siden – du godeste, sikke et
vanvid! Men også finder jeg nogle nostalgiske ting – farvelkort fra nogle af
hendes veninder osv, da hun flyttede til Australien osv. Jeg får tårer i øjnene
– hulk, hulk!
jeg trækker ud fra under sengen nogle af de uønskede ejendele
vores
datter Sarah efterlod hos os, da hun i december 2015 flytted til
Perth,
Australien, sammen med Francis og deres små børn
Jeg finder
også Sarahs pas, som hun brugte, da jeg tog hende og Alison med til USA i 1993,
for at bo hos min søster Kathy og hendes mand Steve i Norristown Pa., også for
at mødes med nogle af deres gamle skolevenner fra 1982-85, da vi boede i
Columbia Md
Kathy og Steves hus i Norristown Pa USA: (fra venstre til højre)
Alison
(18), Kathy (45), Sarah (16) og mig (47)
i husets kælder: (fra venstre til højre) Alison, Sarah og mig
på en lokal restaurant, sammen med Kathy og Steve - lykkelige tider !!!
Sarah brugte
samme pas i 1995, da hun rejste mellem Nairobi, Harare, Windhoek osv med en
gruppe andre unge mennesker, alle fremmede i begyndelsen af rejsen, lige efter
hun havde forladt højskole og før hun startede i Birmingham University. Passet har
stempelmærker fra mange afrikanske lande, herunder Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi,
Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana og lignende. Du godeste, hvor
modig hun var på kun 18 år – yikes!
Lykkelige
tider, hulk hulk hulk !!!
13:00 Jeg
spiser frokost og samtidig ser jeg lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm
(1. del af 5), der handler om historien af London. Programmets værter er de charmerende
Dan Jones, Suzannah Lipscomb og Rob Bell.
Et interessant
program, der starter i 55 før Kr, da Julius Cæsar og den romerske hær ankom til
området og opholdte sig en kort tid herovre, og senere i 43 e. Kr, da hæren
begyndte at grundlægge deres nyeste koloni, Britannia, for alvor. En af de
første ting, de gjorde, var at bygge en bro, i nærheden af den nuværende London
Bridge. Den blev byens eneste bro i 1600 år – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!
Byens navn er
lidt af et mysterium – det er meget meget gammelt – næsten bestemt for-keltisk
og ingen er helt sikker på, hvad navnet betyder. Det der blæser mig væk, at
tænke, at ét eller andet folk, som vi ved intet om, for tusindvis af år siden
gav byen det navn, vi stadig bruger i dag. Hvor fantastisk!
Da de invaderende
angelsaksere ankom i 400-tallet i området efter romerriget kollapsede, undgik
de måske på overtroiske grunde, at bosætte sig i det gamle ruinerede romerske
by med dens bymure, og foretrak i stedet for at bygge en ny, mindre by,
bestående bare af træhuse, 1 mile vest for den oprindelig romerske by. De
kaldte den nye by Lundenwic.
Desværre havde
Lundenwic ingen bymure, hvilket var lidt
af en ulempe, da vikingerne ankom i 850 e. Kr, eller deromkring, så besluttede
angelsakserne at flytte tilbage ind i den gamle romerske by og tilbage til
beskyttelsen af de gamle romerske mure. De forlod Lundenwic og derefter
henviste de til den som Aldwic, dvs den gamle by. Området hedder stadig Aldwych
i dag, hvilket er rart.
Og det er
fascinerende at se kortet over London blive større og større med hvert år, der
går.
den oprindelige by London, i 47 e.Kr, 4 år efter
grundlagelsen
af den nye romerske koloni Britannia.
Da de invaderende angelsakser ankom efter romerriget kollapsede,
undgik
de at bosætte sig i den gamle romerske by, og slog sig ned i en nybygget
lille
by bestående af træhuse, 1 miles vest
for de gamle romerske bymure.
16:00 Lois
kommer tilbage fra Tewkesbury og vi slapper af med en kop te og et stykke brød
med hjemmelavet reineclaudemarmelade – yum yum!
Vi kigger ud
af vinduet – det er begyndt at hagle, og kort efter at sne. Du godeste, sikke
et vanvid! Men denne uge (på tirsdag) vil årets største hestevæddeløbsfestival,
Gold Cup Week, finde sted, kun 1 mile væk herfra. De lokale plejer at sige, at
det er helt traditionelt at få sne denne uge, og vi hørt for nylig i radio, at
det i Storbritannien er langt mere sandsynligt at man får sne i marts, end i
februar, hvilket virker mærkeligt
Det begynder at hagle, og kort efter at sne – du godeste, sikke et
vanvid!!!
18:00 Vi
spiser aftensmad, herunder, til dessert, en af Lois’ hjemmelavede julebuddinger,
der tilfældigvis tøede op, da vores fryser sidste måned gik i stå. Yum yum!
en
af Lois’ hjemmelavede julebuddinger – yum yum!
20:30 Vi taler
lidt på telefon med Alison, vores ældste datter, der bor i Haslemere sammen med
Ed og deres 3 børn. Familien boede i næsten 6 år i København, men de flyttede
sidste år tilbage til England. Ed har været arbejdsløs i flere måneder, og
familien har levet af en generøs kompensationsspakke fra Eds tidligere firma.
Men det er nu blevet lidt presserende, at han finder et nyt job, og han har for
nylig haft et par jobsamtaler, og har endnu én i opsejling, hvilket lyder lovende.
21:00 Vi ser
lidt fjernsyn. De viser en lidt mærkelig film, der hedder ”Arcadia”, og som
handler om at komme tilbage til naturen og vække vores indre barn eller vores indre
djævel, komme tilbage i kontakt med den naturlige verden, også forfølge det
kødelige i livet og den slags.
Vi ser en
masse gamle sorte-og-hvide filmsekvenser om det gamle liv ude på landet, også gamle
dyriske eller sataniske landsbyritualer, nudisme i naturen, Stonehenge-festivaler,
nudistlejrer, frugtbarhedsritualer, djævletilbedelse, og den slags.
Det hele ser
ud som meget sjovt, men Lois og jeg er bange for, at det nu på 72 år er for
sent at indtage disse begejstrende nye hobbies såsom djævletilbedelse, men det
er vi ikke helt sikre på – juryen er stadig ud om det.
Lois og jeg
diskuterer spørgsmålet om nudisme. Vi tror, det blev til lidt af en dille i
1930’erne, som en del af en generel kampagne efter at få mennesker at gå ude på
landet, dyrke sport og motion, gå ture i skovene osv, for at forbedre
englænderes sundhed og fitness, og den slags.
I 1950’erne og
60’erne, da Lois og jeg var børn og teenagere, havde nudisme blevet til lidt af
en vittighed for komikere såsom Benny Hill og”Carry on” filmfranchisen til at lave sjov med. Vi plejede at se
nudister spille tennis for eksempel, men strategisk placerede trær og andre
genstander hindrede altid tv-seerne i at se noget frækt, hvilket sandsynligvis
var en god ting – men det er juryen stadi ude om. Danskerne har selvfølgelig
altid haft en helt anderledes holdning til nudisme, end os, for at sige mildt!
Inspector
Clouseau (Peter Sellers) gående incognito i en nudistlejr.
Denne uge er i
hvert fald ikke en god tid til at indtage nudism, på grund af Gold Cup Week og
alle de færdelige traffikpropper osv. Næste uge måske.
22:00 Vi går i
seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!!
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