Back many many many years, at university, I remember a climbing buddy having an old battered poster on her kitchen wall. It was a beautiful mountain, with its reflection perfectly captured in a lake. In bold the message was something like “Keep looking, there is at least one place where you will fell truly ALIVE”.
Several decades later I was blessed to be able to stand by that very same lake and by that very same mountain. The Poster was so right….
These places DO EXIST.
Sometimes you hear things that just pass you by. Sometimes you hear things that you think, that’s interesting. Then very occasionally you hear something that stops you in your tracks and you cry out
‘I’m sorry, say that again…..’
Sat in the Departure Lounge at Geneva Airport, talking to a Swiss Couple also waiting for the same plane. Two couples, two pregnant couples. The subject randomly got onto prospective child names.
“If you want that name then you better have your child in Britain. You won’t be allowed to call your baby that in Switzerland. Swiss Authorities have to approve names and have strict rules…”
Officially stopped in tracks.….
Switzerland, yes the country has naming rules. Can’t use names that might have a negative impact on a child’s future. Can’t use place or brand names. Middle names frowned upon as no room on official forms for them. Double surnames frowned upon. Some names changed to reflect local Italian or German pronunciations.
To be fair the couple did say things had become a bit more relaxed over the last few years, but rules are still there. At one stage there was even a list of approved baby names that you had to pick from.
Switzerland is a stunning, amazing country, it’s also occasionally just a bit barking mad. Coming from Yorkshire, I like that.
Two storms with names this week, that’s 10 named storms this season so far. It is definitely a bit bracing perched on top of a little Northern Hill. I would tell you the average wind speed in our garden but the recently purchased weather station was obliterated during the last storm.
Let’s just say it’s BREEZY and a tad DAMP.
The perfect time to put the recycling out for collection. I dread to think which country our cardboard is currently flying across.
It’s odd that you can live in a little bungalow for over 20 years and still feel completely lost when the lights cut out. The perfect time to test the various torches and battery lamps, because this newfangled piped electricity has proved a bit part time over the last few months. The other odd thing is the different perspective torch light gives on familiarity. Sat by myself in a king sized bed, in a room clearly made for two with half empty wardrobes, all illuminated by a cheap torch….
It shines a flickering, underpowered light on life and loss.
Lost in Bern. Sounds like a Bill Murray movie. Lost back in time. The three of us were trying to find our way to the Bear Park. Walking in never ending circles around the old city streets when an enticing ice cream parlour became way too tempting. Temptation is a slippery slope to ruin or in this case a slippery cafe floor. Carrying 3 ice creams and drinks was way beyond me and I went head over heels. The Muppet Dad was on the floor covered in various flavours of ice cream and coke.
An embarrassing silence descended on the busy cafe.
Silence broken by Hawklad who loudly announced “HE is not my Dad, I have never seen him ever before…”
He was 5 and already he knew me way too well.
Doing a bit of that alpine climbing.
Don’t get many of these around here. It’s a FORD. It’s about the only time my car gets a wash….
You can see the houses still have sandbags up against the front doors. These days this lovely village sadly suffers from floods way more frequently.
Parked up in a traffic queue waiting to cross a storm damaged bridge, I unfortunately got to listen to the NEWS. MOST Unfortunate as it involved listening to the Government Education Minister trying to explain why more and more pupils are not attending school. Record numbers. Apparently it’s down to a number of factors,
Bad parenting
Immigration
Really bad parenting
Not enough discipline
Truly awful parenting
Benefits culture
Liberal politics
Moral standards
Monumentally bad parenting
Not enough Parents being fined for letting the Country down. Well over a quarter of a million parent fines just isn’t enough….
I guess I am one of THOSE parents the system has a problem with. Well as ONE of those parents I was surprised that the School System and Government Education Policy wasn’t mentioned. No mention of school budget cuts. No mention of the complete collapse in Special Education Provision and Support. No mention of NHS Mental Health Services struggling to cope with the huge numbers of young people crying out for help. No mention of rising class sizes and overcrowded, unhealthy classrooms. No mention of crumbling school infrastructure. No mention of rising teacher workload and stagnant pay. No mention of increasing Government control of what is taught, how it’s taught, how it’s assessed. No mention of the fanatical focus on exam results and discipline. No mention of the drive towards Victorian Education Standards.
That’s a large ELEPHANT in the ROOM.
A small nature reserve on the edge of the nearest city.
Been coming here for over 20 years and I’ve never seen it this wet.
The small pond has suddenly decided to grow, there is supposed to be a wooden viewing platform there. In fact the now super pond has completely submerged the path on the far side. No circular nature walk now.
Impromptu streams forming all over the site.
The irony, just a few months back Yorkshire was officially under drought restrictions…..
It’s odd how the mind works. Suddenly a long lost memory randomly pops back into focus. I was trying to open a food tin and the can opener had done a runner. Time to get out my Swiss Army Knife with its soon to be tried, mini can opener tool. I remembered buying this knife gadget from a gift shop in Switzerland to hurriedly try to fix my Glasses. We were at the top of The Gornergrat. A high mountain ridge standing at over 10,000ft just a few miles from Zermatt. It’s famed for having Europe’s highest open air railway.
The memory further opened out. Glasses quickly repaired, we had lunch sat outside the mountain top restaurant. Hawklad’s Mum then said that on our next Swiss Holiday we should try to stay at the hotel here, seemingly perched on top of the world.
That was 2015 and our world changed before that could happen.
One day maybe we can complete this memory.
Our nearest city’s flood defences are being tested this winter.
There is usually a path here…. Initially I thought there was also an alligator waiting for hardy souls still committed to using the path. I didn’t risk it even though my online phone map was trying to send me down it. In this case I definitely ignored the naviGATOR.
A Christmas Week trip out to the Coast. To the South Gare at Redcar. My old childhood town.
Wild and windy with clear storm damage. This place gets a real battering from the North Sea.
As a child I would either bike here or my Dad would bring me in his old rust bucket Ford. It was a great place to come, it was as exciting as this part of the world got. Huge waves, intrepid fishing boats, working lighthouse and huge supertankers coming into port. If you were really lucky you would get to see newly built mighty Oil Rigs being towed out to the oil fields, hundreds of miles north. That was many years ago.
The waves are still huge, everything else has changed. Hardly any fishing, lots of derelict industry, not so many ships using the ports now. Dad is a distant memory.
The photo below was taken from what was left of one the Gun Posts. Since the 1970s this view would have been dominated by a huge Blast Furnace, Europe’s second biggest. Now that’s gone as well.
Back 18 months ago, the Furnace was still there, a shell waiting to be scrapped. For decades the Furnace dominated Redcar. Dominated its skyline, economy and life. My Dad worked there, my brother in law worked there, most of my school friends went to work there.
Walking there this Christmas and I could really feel THE GHOSTS of the past. A once childhood haunt is now just HAUNTED.
Netherlands inspired Christmas at the local Country House. Maybe next year we can try a slightly downscaled version in our little bungalow.
Still the Country House is a good place to come when our village power is off, AGAIN. You don’t apparently get supply problems in Netherlands….
I was reminded that we haven’t been inside this place since our world changed back in 2016. We would come here often, then life abruptly changed course and our smaller family stopped coming. That’s been a common theme.
It’s been a while since I read Peter Pan. From what I can remember it’s about the inevitability of growing up and plans suddenly changing. Life happens. Too often losing our sense of adventure and missing opportunities. Losing confidence to LIVE and FLY. BUT IT DOESN’T have to be this way.
Need to remember this….
It doesn’t have to be this way.
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 