Saturday October 19 2019

09:00 Lois and I tumble out of the shower stall and try to dress up a bit for once, because her sect has invited us both to its regular monthly get-together: this month, it's lunch at one of the area's most charming pubs: The Fleet Inn, which stands in the middle of the small village of Twyning next to the River Avon, near Tewkesbury.

The Fleet Inn at Twyning

These gatherings are not to my liking, to put it mildly - I can't completely relax with the sect members, though I now find it much less difficult to go through the experience than I did before, I have to admit. The sect members have got into the habit of seeing me by Lois's side and they no longer try to talk about religion with me, which is a bit of a relief.

Today, too, I'm a little curious to find out the mood of members following this week's huge disappointment: many of them, including Lois, spent many hours distributing leaflets through local residents' letterboxes to publicise a series of 3 special meetings about the sect and its beliefs and activities.

the sect's leaflet channels in an pleasantly original way

George Michael's iconic "Faith" album cover

But unfortunately, their big campaign did not result in attracting any new faces to the first of the 3 meetings, that took place on Wednesday, which was a very big disappointment - the members had been very excited before Wednesday night about the prospects for the meeting, I know that for sure.

11:45 Lois and I drive over to the pub - we're the first to arrive, as usual! We kill time by larking about in the pub garden and taking photos of each other outside the pub and beside the river, etc.

We kill time by larking about in the pub garden,

and by the River Avon

12:30 The other sect members arrive and we all sit down to table. I get a good seat at the end of the table, which is nice, so I can get away with not talking too much and I can concentrate on eating - sausages, mashed potatoes and various crispy vegetables: yum yum! But despite everything I can't relax 100% so I don't drink alcohol so I can keep my wits about me. They’re all very nice people but they tend to talk about things I haven’t got anything to say on  – yikes, my bad probably!

My biggest problem is the many sect members who speak with unnecessarily loud voices, even when talking to someone sitting right next to them – good grief, what madness !!!! The noise keeps threatening to give me a bit of a headache, but I manage to get through it, thank goodness.

No one mentions this week's big fiasco - the absence of new faces turning up for their special meeting. I suppose they have decided to just move on with their lives and try to get over the disappointment, which I respect.

14:30 Most of them all have a big appetite (and weight problems) and they start ordering a lot of high-calorie desserts, but Lois and I are more than happy with our starters and main courses and we want to go to bed, so decide we to get off.

15:30 We get home and jump into bed. We get up 2 hours later but we don't want to eat a full dinner, so we just have a few pieces of toast with homemade gooseberry marmalade - yum yum!

20:00 We spend the evening watching some television, the second episode of a series about the pre-baby boom generations who went through one, and in some cases, two world wars, plus the Great Depression of 1929 and the 1930’s, etc. These survivors are now the nation's oldest inhabitants, needless to say.

Some of those taking part in the programme are very old - older than "old crows": "old dodos" maybe. Vera Price in Bristol turned 110 recently.

This episode concentrates on the first 2-3 years of World War II (1939-1941). While watching the programme, Lois and I cannot help but admire our parents' generation - most of them worked hard and cheerfully to resist Hitler's relentless bombing campaign, and did not think for one second about the possibility of defeat.

We hear also from some of the many women who worked in the armaments industry.

Very inspiring, and I think it was this kind of positiveness and determination that persuaded Roosevelt from the start that it was worth sending us weapons, warships, warplanes, etc. Churchill was realistic enough to know, however, that a stand-off in Western Europe would not be sufficient in the long run, and American participation in the war would be necessary to defeat Hitler. Perhaps we'll see some of that in the next episode.

Flashback to 1940: my mother (aged 21)

my father (left) in wartime London

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

Danish translation: lørdag den 19 oktober 2019

09:00 Lois og jeg vælter ud af brusekabinen og prøver at stadse os op lidt for en gangs skyld , fordi hendes sekt har inviteret os begge to til sin regelmæssige månedlige sammenkomst:  denne måned er det frokost på én af områdets mest charmerende pubber: The Fleet, der står i midten af den lille landsby Twyning ved siden af floden Avon, nær Tewkesbury.

Disse sammenkomster er ikke til min smag, for at sige mildt – jeg kan ikke slappe mig totalt af med sektmedlemmerne, selvom jeg nu har meget mindre svært ved at gennemgå oplevelsen, end før – det må jeg indrømme. Sektemedlemmerne er kommet i vane med at se mig ved Lois’ side og de prøver ikke længere at tale om religion med mig, hvilket er lidt af en lettelse. 

Også i dag er jeg lidt nysgerrig efter, at finde ud af stemningen blandt medlemmerne efter denne uges kæmpe skuffelse:  mange af dem, inklusive Lois, brugte mange timer på at distribuere pjecer ind gennem lokale indbyggeres brevsprækker for at publicere en serie af 3 specielle møder om sekten og dens tro og aktiviteter.

sektens pjece kanaliserer på en helt oprindelig måde

George Michaels ikoniske ”Faith” album-omslag

Men desværre resulterede deres stor kampagne ikke i at tiltrække nogle nye ansigter til det første af de 3 møder, der fandt sted i onsdag, hvilket var en meget stor skuffelse – medlemmerne havde før onsdag aften været meget begejstrede om udsigterne til mødet, det ved jeg med sikkerhed.

11:45 Lois og jeg kører over til pubben – vi er de første til at ankomme, som sædvanligt! Vi slår tid ihjel ved at muntre os i pubbens have og tage fotoer af hinanden udenfor pubben og ved siden af floden osv.

vi slår tid ihjel ved at muntre os i pubbens have

og ved siden af floden Avon

12:30 De andre sektemedlemmer ankommer og vi sætter os alle til bordet. Jeg får en god siddeplads, i enden af bordet, hvilket er rart, så jeg kan slippe af sted med ikke at tale for meget og jeg kan koncentrere mig om at spise – pølser, kartoffelmos og forskellige sprødte grøntsager: yum yum! Men trods alt kan jeg ikke slappe af 100%, så jeg ikke drikker alkohol, for at blive "vågen".

Mit største problem, er de mange sektmedlemmer der taler med unødvendigt højtlyde stemmer, endda når de taler med én, der sidder ved siden af dem – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!! De truer at give mig lidt af en hovedpine, men jeg formår at overleve, gudskelov.

Ingen nævner ugens stor fiasko – manglen på nye ansigter til deres specielle møde. Jeg formoder , at de har besluttet at komme videre med deres liv og prøve at komme sig over skuffelsen.

14:30 De fleste af dem har alle en stor appetit (og vægtproblemer), og de begynder at bestille en masse kalorierige desserter, men Lois og jeg er mere, end tilfredse med vores forretter og hovedretter, og vi vil i seng, så beslutter vi at stikke af.

15:30 Vi kommer hjem og hopper op i sengen. Vi står op 2 timer senere men vi har ikke lyst til at spise en fuld aftensmad, så nøjes vi med et par stykker toast med hjemmelavet stikkelsbærmarmelade – yum yum!

20:00 Vi bruger aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, det 2. afsnit i en serie om præ-babyboom-generationer, der gik gennem én, og i nogle tilfælde, to verdenskrige, også den store depression af 1929 og 1930’erne osv. De overlevende er nu landets ældste indbyggere, unødvendigt at sige.

Nogle af dem, der deltager i programmet, er meget gamle – ældre, end ”gamle krave”: ”gamle dronter” måske. Vera Price i Bristol fyldte 110 for nylig.

Dette afsnit koncentrerer sig om den 2. verdenskrigs første 2-3 år (1939-1941). Mens vi kigger på programmet, kan Lois og jeg ikke undgå at beundre vores forældres generation – de fleste arbejdede hårdt og muntert sammen for at modstå Hitlers ubøjelige bombekampagner, og tænkte ikke ét sekund på muligheden for at blive besejret.

Vi hører fra nogle af de mange kvinder, der arbejdede i rustningsindustrien.

Meget inspirerende, og jeg tror, at det var denne slags bestemthed, der overtalte Roosevelt fra starten, at det var det værd til at sende os våben, krigskibe, krigsfly osv. Churchill var realistisk nok til at vide imidlertid, at en uafgjort kamp i Vest-Europa var ikke tilstrækkeligt i det lange løb, og amerikanske deltagelse i krigen ville være nødvendig, for at besejre Hitler.

tilbageblik til 1940 - min mor på 21 år

min far (til venstre) i krigstidens London

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!!!