Sometimes even in Yorkshire, the clouds part and we get a view.
Sutton Bank.
The edge of The Hills, edge of The Moors, overlooking the Vale of York.
It’s a truly beautiful world.
View
Dreaming
For the last week I have had a recurring dream, a vivid recurring dream. A dream about a place we’ve been to a number of wonderful times, the Gornergrat in Switzerland. A very high ridge in the Alps with a luxury hotel and beautiful stone chapel, set amongst the rocks, the mountain peaks and glaciers.
In these recurring dreams, we are sat on a bench, watching the clouds roll across the rocky landscape, as the sun slowly sets. Then we wander into the hotel’s observatory and look at the stars through the large telescope. That is something I’ve wanted to do for years.
Maybe I’m being told something…..
Not for the first time
Not for the first time – sounds a bit like a Foreigner song.
How many times before I learn.
Why are life lessons so easily forgotten.
The older we get the more we are visited by loss, the more emotional baggage we carry.
Not for the first time, a character, a personality, someone with a rich story to hear, explore and understand. Let’s have that coffee next week, after this and that, let’s set something up tomorrow, maybe the weather will be better in a few weeks. Sorry busy, there’s a delivery I need to stay in for, shopping, work, housework, family….
Let’s have that coffee soon.
Time sometimes runs out…. I know…. I should know…. It’s happened before….
For months been talking about having a coffee with a wonderful chap in our village. A few decades older than me, lost his partner similar time to me, an artist. Much to talk about, share and discover. For this reason and that the coffee kept being put off till next week, then next week, then…..
He passed away a few days back. So many stories unheard, didn’t get to hear about his artist life. Just have to treasure the chats outside his house as I passed on the daily dog walk. Chats often quickly reverting to mutual disbelief at what is becoming of our country and its so called government. Little glimpses into each others worlds, a few tantalising snippets gained on an artist’s life.
If only that coffee had happened. If only I had asked this question and that question. Spent some more moments talking.
How many times have I thought that. Family, Partner, Friends.
Maybe this time, I’ve really learnt the life lesson.
One man revolution
Going through some old photos for this post and a TV news item about the upcoming election sparks memories. The Swiss Hotel Owner would always want to hear updates about UK politics. After the update he would always say something like
‘In the UK people don’t seem to go into politics to help communities, it’s about helping themselves. They want the political power too much…’
Oh that is so true, and my mind wanders. Some folks do want political power way too much 😂😂. This post is going off on a tangent now.
Recently I went to vote in the local Mayoral election. A trip to a little used, tiny village hall. The Presiding Officer, clearly bored, was having a good giggle at not accepting my photo id, as to her it was not a true likeness. Apparently my beard shape was different to the photo and she wanted me to restyle it before I could vote.
Maybe more ZZTop, or maybe more Idris Elba…..
In front of the bored official, on the desk, apart from the voting forms and electoral register WAS a Stephen King Book, a food pack up, several Mars Bars and a flask of something.
Memory time. I had completely forgotten that years back, I had been a Presiding Officer, just as bored as this beard focusing prankster.
The Election Team could never get enough people to volunteer to run all the polling stations, so the day before the election, desperate officials would walk round the government building where I was working, trying to entice people to volunteer. AND I was one of the willing….. Why was I so willing….
Run this past me again, you want me tomorrow to not come into work, at this really busy time, to go to a deadly quiet village hall. Then instead of working my butt off, I can read a book, drink coffee, have a picnic, and I just have to hand out a few voting cards for 12 hours. I’m your man…..
But the secret was not to look too keen, make it look like a real chore, a real inconvenience. Eventually they would agree to pay your normal salary for the day rather than just volunteering.
And you are going to pay me to do nothing for the day…. Just GRAND. Now you can sign me up.
You would turn up at the voting centre and basically vegetate. In most of these remote polling stations your were lucky to get 10 voters turning up during the whole 12 hour shift. Normally a super relaxed shift. Yes, sometimes boring. One time I can remember trying to convince a voter that I could sort out a special voting bone for his dog, so the dog could vote as well. Yes I so understand her beard jokes….. But one year I had to do the voting centre gig with a trainee planner as an assistant. Way too keen. Have you done this, have you done that, is that wall poster on local conservation appropriate during voting. Never stopped. On top of everything, he then accidentally put his empty crisp packet into the vote ballot box rather than the bin. I forced him to fish it out with tongs I managed to find in the village hall kitchen. After about an hour it was too much for my sanity.
Ok, I’m going to make you Acting Presiding Officer.
Really, can you do that.
Yes, I will even get you a name badge to tell everyone about your new role. You can then run the process and I will just sit over there and de stress.
He was so happy, even happier when I stuck a postage note on his chest telling everyone of his new role. Then I sat in the corner and read while the new Acting Presiding Officer enthusiastically dealt with the handful of voters over the passing hours, only once did I have to intervene to stop some form of bureaucratic madness from him. Always thinking, when will he look at his name badge. He never did, at the end of the day, he threw it in the bin and went off a happy bunny, full of the new political power he had exerted. I kinda hoped that at least one of the voters had read his name badge.
No it didn’t read……
I’m the Acting Presiding Officer
Much more importantly it read….
I’m the Acting Prime Minister.
I’m sure that act of personal silliness broke several electoral laws and Revolutions have started over much less.
Each Day
Each Day, Dad would pick up the local newspaper, briefly glance at the main headline and then it was straight to the same old page. He would turn to the Death Notices which bizarrely was on the same page as the previous day’s horse racing results…. I’m not sure what message the Editor was sending there.
Each Day, Dad would carefully scan the names to see who had died. I never understood Dad’s seeming obsession with that.
Now after all the years, I understand…..
Last night I had a series of bizarre dreams. Not bad dreams, just odd ones. One featured a friend from college, a long forgotten friend. Hadn’t seen her in decades, we met up a couple of times in London after college but then we just lost touch, we headed in different life directions. No idea why she suddenly popped up randomly last night but after that dream I wondered what happened to K. So I headed online to see if I could find any mention of her. After a bit of searching I think I maybe found one brief reference to K, right name, right age. If it’s K then she has become some form of Judge, I had heard years back she was training to be a solicitor. Hope this means it’s a good life scenario.
But here’s the thing, alongside hopes of finding news of K in a wonderful life setup, a big part of me was just hoping she was ok, still with us. I think Dad would understand that feeling.
IF only
Walk around any store and look at all the food labelling. Detailed information and warnings on all sorts of things which these days means that you can try to shop wisely and safely. It can be done….
A really grey, wet and chilly May Day. We needed to get out so we ventured to the local cinema. Only two films about to start as we arrived. One about Apes running the planet and one about a big blue imaginary monster friend. Looking at the posters, what to go for. Well hardly scientific, we have already seen the Kong movie recently, that’s probably enough Ape for one year. The other movie looked quite cute and funny. Plus as it was rated ok for small children, it should be safe, untaxing entertainment, perfect way to vegetate for a couple of hours.
IF only we had more detailed movie labelling….. AND NO it’s way too late putting a brief disclaimer on the screen that the movie contains depictions of death, bereavement, adult themes, strobe lighting or whatever barely two seconds before the movie starts. If they can do it then they can do it on the trailers, movie posters or what’s on cinema ticket booth screens.
Ok yes, the movie had lots of cute, funny and harmless entertainment. It was a really good movie. BUT all sandwiched between a 12 year old girl trying to deal with her mum dying of what appeared to be cancer and her father in hospital facing the prospect of a major life threatening heart operation. Quite a lot of the movie was the girl visiting her father in hospital and being petrified of losing him as well…..
Definitely brought the occasional tear to this grizzled lump, Hawklad struggled. But was it suitable for really young children, especially those who might have already experienced loss. And what about the two poor parents who brought their really young children to see the cute film. One child had to leave in tears early on and the other had to be taken out to buy some distracting ice cream during one tough scene.
IF only those parents had some film labelling and warnings before they bought the tickets.
Wrong order
For years I’ve tried to learn a second language. At school, French was the weapon of torture preferred by the teachers. They tried, I was very trying….. After about 15 years of more self imposed French torture, after so many different language learning systems, I realised that there we’re still rabbits and chickens who could ask for a sandwich in Paris better than I could.
Experiment abandoned…..
I switched to German. Since then I’ve tried, I’ve really tried. Slowly the second language developed past rabbit linguistic levels. Increasingly on the Swiss trips, I tried out my German, usually spectacularly badly. But then in 2015, on one particular train heading towards Bern, with one particular German speaking Train Guard, a Guard asking to see our tickets and asking where we were going, I nailed it. The perfect response in perfect German. I actually spoke German for maybe 20 seconds…..
I looked over at my partner and whispered ‘that was unusually competent German for me…’
Well I thought I nailed it.
The Guard looked coolly at me over his glasses and said in perfect English…
“you used all the right words but pronounced them in the wrong way and you got the word order completely wrong”…
He then proceeded to give me an impromptu lesson on how verbs are parachuted to the end of sentences when certain words like THEN or BECAUSE are used. But then there are other words for BECAUSE that don’t send the verb flying all over the place….. what on earth is that all about.
So fast forward to 2024 and I’m still trying. I think I’ve just about sussed out the verb going to the end thing. Sadly my pronunciation is still very Yorkshire mixed with Geordie, think Monty Python. What chance have I got with actual German speakers when my very own car satellite navigation can’t even understand my accent. That’s when I’m speaking English…… But one day, hopefully really soon I will get the chance to try German again in Amazing Switzerland.
Ich kann es kaum erwarten, es wieder zu besuchen, weil es sehr schon ist.
Car Park
Car Park with a view.
Our car was less than an inch away from that sea wall, that got its rear parking sensor alarm going crazy. Looking at the marks on the wall, some drivers have clearly got way closer. It happens to us all. Years back and I was learning to drive. At the end of my final lesson immediately before my test, I parked up outside the testing centre. Not strictly true. Actually I had a good go at reversing into the testing centre. Gave its front wall a good whack but thankfully, the test had not officially started so I got away with that one.
Or the time I reversed into my parents house drive and hit a tree, that they didn’t have. Bizarrely that very day, my parent’s next door neighbour found strange car marks on his prized front garden tree.
Or the time I reversed into my tent while I was solo camping in Scotland once.
Or the time I reversed a work’s Mercedes Van into the unopened work’s roller shutters. Mercedes Van 1 Roller Shutters 0.
I’m not good at reversing clearly. Actually I’m quite good at reversing, not so good at avoiding things. Hence why when I buy a car about the first thing I look for is ….. does it have reversing sensors. Now I can just about park near sea walls without damage. If only other life problems could be solved that easily, but here’s the thing. That reversing problem hasn’t gone away, turn the sensor off and ….. What I should really do is to learn to drive properly…..
Northern Lights
Crazy night. The largest solar storm to hit our region in decades and the fickle Yorkshire weather unbelievably played ball. We found ourselves a quiet, remote part of the moors and for 4 hours we watched the patterns and colours unfold. The whole sky was filled with the ever changing lighting show, even looking south. Absolutely mesmerising and awe inspiring.
And even when we got back home, just before dawn, it was still going strong.
Yes LIFE can be really tough and challenging but it can also be truly breathtaking and spectacularly good.
Love at first sight
Love at first sight. Can you see what captured the mad one’s heart.
Yes he fell for the little robot lawnmower. Tail wagging went into overdrive. ROMEO had to be eventually physically pulled away from his JULIET.
Since that first encounter, he rushes on his walks to this spot, wagging his tail. Tilting his head when he can’t see his new friend. Putting the brakes on in the hope that a few more moments would deliver his love to that lawn.
Maybe if it stays dry, the little robot will be back at work soon and the friendship can recommence.
I wonder, is the canine heart, the perfect reason I’ve been looking for to finally invest in this bit of Harry Potter Wizardry. Sat drinking coffee while the robot happily sorts out the garden, certainly does have its unquestionable appeals.
One question though, has the robotic lawn cutting quality ever been properly stress tested when you introduce a playful and most probably, RANDY MAD DOG.
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 