Odd summer stuff!

A while ago, when there was the eclipse of the moon, the one I didn’t see because of all the cloud (as usual!), there was a lot of stuff about it also being a “blood moon”. I read an explanation of why the moon looked red, all of which I have now completely forgotten.

Well, yesterday evening, 10.15 or thereabouts, we could see the moon, a thin sliver of silver against the darkening sky. I have no idea whether it was waxing or waning. That’s another thing I read about, how to tell which way the moon is going, which I have forgotten. There had clearly been a bit of a sunset, one of those where all the horizon turns pinky-orange, and the horizon still showed traces of colour. We were not really concentrating on that as we wanted to get down to the Cairo cafeteria to do some internetting before they closed.

When we got back to the flat some time after 11.00, when the cafe closed, I went out onto the balcony to get the washing in and looked out over the bay. And there was the setting moon, looking for all the world like a slice of watermelon, but without the rind obviously. A pinky-red crescent sliding down below the horizon. How odd!

Now, I always thought, when I was a child, that the sun was out in the daytime and the moon at night. But it turns out that sometimes you see the moon in the late afternoon and sometimes you see it in the morning. If it sets before midnight, at what time does it rise? Also, if it sets before midnight, how does anybody manage a moonlit walk late at night? One of life’s mysteries!

It’s a good job it was not too hot last night because the wind had got up and we had to shut all the windows. When the wind bows from a certain direction it resonates through the building with a consistent whine. No way to sleep through that!

More consequences of the heat in various countries keep popping up in the news. From Germany comes the strange story of a nan who had to be rescued from a baby squirrel:-

“German police have rescued a man after he called for help saying a baby squirrel would not leave him alone. Emergency services received a call on Thursday from the man, who claimed he was being chased down the street by the tiny animal.

Police in Karlsruhe said the unnamed man called them in desperation after he was unable to shake off the small rodent. Officers sent a patrol car out to investigate and arrived to find the chase still in full flow. But the drama ended suddenly when the squirrel, apparently exhausted by its exertions, lay down abruptly and fell asleep.

Officers took pity on the animal, which had probably become separated from its mother. Police said it likely targeted the man because it was in search of a new home.”

That brings to mind one of our family stories. When our children were small, we regularly visited the red squirrel reserve at Formby point, patiently trying to persuade the little creatures to eat from our hands. On one occasion my brother, ever a joker, told the children on our way to the nature reserve, about a mysterious giant, bottom-biting squirrel that had appeared in the pinewoods. After we parked we had to work hard to persuade the children to leave the car!

Such is the fear of squirrels!