08:00 Lois and I tumble out of
the shower cabinet and after breakfast Lois starts making a salad dish and a
few other dishes for Andy and Angie's eats-get-together: they have invited all the local sect members
from Lois' sect for a lunch at their house out in the countryside, and Lois has
asked me to come too, to support her.
In the meantime, I sit down with
the computer and get going with buying a travel insurance policy for our
vacation in Australia next year when we visit Sarah, our younger daughter, who
lives in Perth with Francis and their 6-year-old twins, Lily and Jessie . Turns
out, the company only wants to charge £50 extra for our various health issues,
which is heart-warming - yikes!
A flood of money is pouring out
of our bank account at 100 miles per hour currently. It's weird, but sometimes
months go by where we seem to spend almost nothing, and then a few months later
we have big expense after big expense – my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!
!
I feel a little nervous all
morning - I have to admit that. Andy and Angie's get-togethers aren't really my
bag, although they are a very nice couple, no doubt about that. I'm a big
introvert, plus, I feel I don't have much in common with the other sect
members, to put it mildly. Fortunately, the gathering is a pop-in drop-in
pop-out drop-out affair, and Lois has promised that if we arrive at 12:15 or
so, we can leave at 2:30 pm so we can get home and spend the rest of the
afternoon in bed, which will be nice.
11:45 We drive over to Andy's
house, near the village of Eckington in the county of Worcestershire - we're pretty
much the first guests to arrive - just Hilary and Claire are in the backyard as
we show up, which is nice.
Andy and Angie live near the village of
Eckington
in the county of Worcestershire
Fortunately, I've been to a few
of these gatherings before, and I know very well which sect members I can talk
to with confidence and which ones to avoid at all costs.
And I know who are the most
down-to-earth members - David, for example, who is married to Veronica ,, who
unfortunately suffers from dementia. He has a great sense of humour and he
needs it too with Veronica as his wife – my god! Poor Veronica, and also poor
David!
But I can have a good laugh with
David, and if I keep talking to him, I can keep the more pious members at
bay, which is a bit of a relief.
Flashback to December 2018: David
(right) in happier times
I overhear a few strange
conversations – many of the sect's members take it for granted that Jesus's
return is just around the corner, and I hear Andy and Mark wondering if Queen
Elizabeth will still be on the throne when the second coming takes place.
Andy says he and Angie recently
visited the Tower of London and looked around the so-called throne room: Andy
says that since the Anglo-Saxon times, all the kings of England have had their
own throne installed with their personal insignia visible on the back of the
chair. Queen Elizabeth's throne is there, but now after 1000 years the room is getting
a bit crowded to put it mildly, and there is just room for exactly one more
throne - and Andy and Mark wonder if Jesus will claim the last throne when he
returns , or whether Prince Charles will take it and later give it up to Jesus
when asked to do so.
A fascinating discussion, but
perhaps Jesus's staff should update him with the news that it is no longer 1851
(the "Great Exhibition" year) and Britain is no longer the world's
superpower, I have to say!
I take care to keep well clear of
Lucy, the pro-Israeli fanatic, who I suspect is also a member of Netanyahu's
fan club - she seems to be hoping that Netanyahu will start a war against the
Arabs, which will bring Jesus scurrying back to the earth. Good grief, what madness
!!!
14:30 We say goodbye to Andy and
Angie and the other guests and drive back to Cheltenham. We go to bed for a few
hours to recharge our batteries, which is nice.
17:00 We get up and relax with a
cup of tea on the sofa, followed at 6 pm with a strong gin and tonic. Hurrah -
the weekend starts here!
Lois is reading her "This
Week" magazine, which provides a summary of the week's news. She tells me about
an article pointing out that the English language tends to suffer from a severe
lack of uplifting lifestyle buzz words, with the result that we are forced to
import them in large quantities.
Back in 2016, the Danish word
"hygge" was strongly in fashion: a kind of togetherness emotional cosiness
and warmth, creating a sense of security, satisfaction and well-being.
a typical “hygge”-style atmosphere in modern
day Denmark
After that it was
"lagom", a Swedish word for "not too much, not too little",
that was the cat’s pyjamas.
Then there was Marie Kondo, who
popularised the Japanese word "tokimeku", which is all about
distinguishing the possessions that bring joy and those which do not -
apparently you have to keep the first kind and throw out the second kind – my god,
what madness, out with all the vacuum cleaners for a start!
And there is now apparently a
Korean word, "nunchi" coming in our direction, and it could arrive
soon. It means the ability to read other people's thoughts and then anticipate what
they want.
I discuss with Lois a little
about why the English language has such a great lack of these kinds of words,
the ones that make other nations' lives so much more uplifting and fulfilling
than ours. What's wrong with us? ha ha !!!!
And we wonder if Brexit will mean
we Brits no longer have access to these soothing and game-changing words. Will a gigantic tariff get stuck on them perhaps? But that’s something we
are not completely sure about - the jury is still out on that one.
Brexit: will we lose access to
game-changing words
such as "hygge" and
"lagom"? The jury’s still out on that one.
18:00 We have dinner and spend
the rest of the evening listening to radio, to begin with, a concert in the
BBC's Prom Concert series.
We hear the rarely performed
original version of Rachmaninov's 1st Piano Concerto.
Lois and I did not know that the great
man rewrote the whole concerto after a couple of years: it was not perfect, so
he re-wrote it – good grief, what madness it must have taken him months !!! Speaking
for myself I would not have bothered – life’s too short ha ha ha!
21:00 We continue to listen to
radio, a fun program about the comic songs of RP Weston (1878-1936) and Bert
Lee (1880-1946).
Lois and I didn't know that virtually
all the comic songs we used to hear on the radio as kids in the 1950’s (almost
without exception) were written by Weston and Lee - they wrote a total of about
300 songs, and in their heyday as a song-writing partnership, they were writing
a song a day – good grief!
One of their comic songs even
topped the charts in the 1960’s when Herman's Hermits released it:
Weston and Lee's take on marriage
was not always positive - I have to say. We hear about Vera, the woman who was tied
up and about to be cut to pieces by the mechanical saw operated by a horny
sawmill owner, after she refused to give in to his seductive blandishments.
Vera's boyfriend arrives just in
time to save her, and the couple marry soon after, which seems like a happy
ending, but after a few years of marriage, the woman asks her husband to stay
out of it next time if the same thing ever happened again.
Good grief, what a sick world we
live in !!!!
another moving song from Weston and Lee's impressive
portfolio of 300 songs
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzz !!!!!!!
Danish translation
08:00 Lois og jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen og efter morgenmad går Lois
i gang med at lave en saladret og et par andre retter til Andy og Angies
spise-sammenkomst: de har inviteret alle de lokale sektmedlemmer fra Lois’ sekt
til en frokost på deres hus ude på landet, og Lois har bedt mig om at komme
også, for at støtte hende.
I mellemtiden sætter jeg mig med computeren og går i gang med at købe en
rejseforsikringspolicen til vores ferie i Australien næste år, når vi besøger
Sarah, vores yngste datter, der bor i Perth sammen med Francis og deres 6-årige
tvillinger, Lily og Jessie. Det viser sig, at selskabet bare vil forlange 50£
ekstra for vores forskellige sundhedsproblemer, hvilket er hjertevarmende – yikes!
En flom af penge er i gang med at komme strømmende ud af vores bankkonto
på 100 miles i timen i øjeblikket. Der er underligt, men nogle gange gå flere
måneder, hvor vi synes at bruge næsten intet, og så lidt senere går der flere
måneder, hvor vi har store udgifter efter store udgifter – du godeste, sikke en
skør verden vi lever i !!!!
Jeg føler midt lidt nervøs hele formiddagen – det må jeg indrømme. Andy
og Angies sammenkomster er ikke virkelig min ting, selvom de er et meget sødt
par, ingen tvivl om det. Jeg er en stort introvert, også jeg føler, jeg har
ikke ret meget til fælles med de andre sektmedlemmer, for at sige mildt.
Heldigvis er sammenkomst en smut-ind affære, og Lois har lovet, at hvis vi
ankommer kl 12:15 eller deromkring, kan vi tage af sted kl 14:30, så vi kan
komme hjem og tilbringe resten af eftermiddagen i sengen, hvilket vil være
rart.
11:45 Vi kører over til Andys
hus, der ligger i nærheden af landsbyen Eckington i grevskabet Worcestershire –
vi er næsten de første gæster til at ankomme – bare Hilary og Claire er i
baghaven, da vi dukker op, hvilket er rart.
Andy og
Angie bor i nærheden af landsbyen Eckington
i grevskabet
Worcestershire
Heldigvis har jeg været til et par af disse sammenkomster før, og jeg
ved godt, hvilke sektmedlemmer jeg kan tale til med tryghed og hvilke jeg skal
undgå ved enhver pris.
Og jeg ved godt hvem er de mest jordnære medlemmer - David for eksempel,
der er gift med Veronica,, der desværre lider af demens. Han har en god sans
for humor, og han trænger til at have den med Veronika som sin kone - du
godeste! Stakkels Veronica og stakkels David!
Men jeg kan have en god latter
med David, og hvis jeg fortsætter at tale med ham, kan jeg holde de mere
fromme medlemmer i stang, hvilket er lidt af en lettelse.
tilbageblik
til december 2018: David (til højre) i lykkeligere tider
Jeg overhører et par mærkelige samtaler – sektens medlemmer tager det
for givet at Jesu genkomst er lige rundt om hjørnet, og jeg hører Andy og Mark
spekulerer på, om dronning Elizabeth stadig vil være på tronen, når genkomsten
finder sted.
Andy siger, han og Angie for nylig besøgte Tower of London og så sig om
i det såkaldte tronrum: Andy siger, at alle Englands konger siden angelsaksiske
tider har fået deres egen tron installeret i rummet, med deres personlige
insignia synlige på stoleryggen. Elizabeths tron er der, men nu efter 1000 år
er rummet lidt overfuldt for at sige mildtk,, og der er bare plads til nøjagtig
endnu en tron – og Andy og Mark spekulerer om, om Jesus vil påstår den sidste
tron, da han kommer tilbage, eller om Prins Charles vil tage den og senere
giver den op til Jesu, når bedt om at gøre det.
En fascinerende diskussion, men måske skal Jesus personale opdaterer ham
med den nyhed, at det ikke er 1851 mere (den ”Store Udstillings” år) og
Storbritannien ikke længere er verdens supermagt, det må jeg nok sige!
Jeg passer på for at gå langt udenom Lucy, den proisraelske fanatiker,
der jeg mistænker også er medlem af Netanyahus fan-klub – hun synes at håber
på, at Netanyahu vil starte en krig mod araberne, hvilket vil bringe Jesu til
at skynde sig tilbage til jorden. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!
14:30 Vi siger tak og farvel til Andy og Angie og de andre gæster og
kører tilbage til Cheltenham. Vi går i seng i et par timer for at genoplade
vores batterier, hvilket er rart.
17:00 Vi står op og slapper af med en kop te i sofaen, følgt kl 18 af en
stærk gin og tonic. Hurrah – weekenden starter her!
Lois er i gang med at læse sit ”This Week”-magasin, der giver en resumé
af ugens nyheder. Hun fortæller mig, at det engelske sprog lider af en alvorlig
mangel på opløftende livsstil-buzz-ord, med resultat at vi er tvunget til at
importere dem i store mængder.
Tilbage i 2016 var det det danske ord ”hygge”, der var stærkt på mode:
en slags kommunal emotionel varme, som skaber en følelse af tryghed,
tilfredshed og velvære.
en typisk
hyggelige stemning i nutidens Danmark
Så var det ”lagom”, et svensk ord for ”ikke for meget, ikke for lille”.
Så var der Marie Kondo, der populariserede det japanske ord ”tokimeku”, der
handler om de ejendele, der opilder glæde, og dem, der ikke gør det –
tilsyneladende må man beholde den første slags og smider den anden slags ud –
du godeste, sikke et vanvid! Og der er nu tilsyneladende et koreansk ord, ”nunchi”,
der kommer i vores retning, og kunne ankomme inden for længe. Det betyder evnen
til at gætte andre menneskers tanker og foregribe dét, de ønsker sig.
Jeg diskuterer lidt med Lois, om hvorfor det engelske sprog har sådan en
stor mangel på disse slags ord, som gør andre nationers liv så meget mere
opløftende og opfyldende, end vores. Hvad er der galt med os? ha ha !!!! Og vi
spekulerer på, om Brexit vil betyde, at vi briter ikke længere har adgang til
disse beroligende og spilskiftende ord. Vil man stikke en gigantisk
tarif på dem måske? Men det er vi ikke helt sikre på – juryen er stadig ude om
det.
Brexit: vil
vi miste adgang til spilskiftende ord
som for
eksempel ”hygge” og ”lagom” ? Det er juryen stadig ude om.
18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at lytte til
radio, til at begynde med, en koncert i BBCs Prom Concert-serien.
Vi hører den sjældent hørte oprindelige version af Rachmaninovs 1.
klaverkoncert. Lois og jeg vidste ikke, at den store mand genskrev hele
koncerten efter et par år: det var ikke perfekte, så han genskrev den – du
godeste, sikke et vanvid, det må have taget ham måneder!!! Jeg selv ville ikke
har givet mig ulejlighed at gøre det - livet er for kort ha ha ha!
21:00 Vi fortsætter med at lytte til radio, et morsomt program, der
handler om de komiske sange af RP Weston (1878-1936) og Bert Lee (1880-1946).
Lois og jeg vidste ikke, at alle de komiske sange vi hørt som børn i
1950’erne (næsten uden undtagelse) blev skrevet af Weston og Lee – de skrev
sammenlagt 300 sange, og i deres storhedsdage som en sangskrevende partnerskab,
skrev de en sang om dagen – du godeste!
En af deres komiske sange skød endda til tops på hitlisterne i 1960’erne,
da Herman’s Hermits udsendte den:
Weston og Lees take på ægteskab var ikke altid positivt – det må jeg nok
sige. Vi hører om Vera, den kvinde, der var i gang med at blive savet i stykker
af den mekaniske sav af en liderlig savværkejer, da hun ikke ville give efter
for hans forførende lokker.
Veras kæreste ankommer lige i tide for at redde hende, og parret gifter
sig kort efter, hvilket virker som en lykkelig slutning, men efter flere års
ægteskab, beder kvinden ham om at holde sig ud af det hele, hvis der skete det
samme ting nogensinde igen.
Du godeste, sikke en syg verden vi lever i !!!!
endnu en rørende sang fra Weston og Lee's imponerende portfolio...
22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!
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