Running ... not in the rain. Nativity scene additions. Mixing religious metaphors. And thanking Mr Johnson.

For the first time in I don’t know how long I managed to run this morning without getting  my feet wet. Even when it hasn’t actually rained on me there has been so much water on the ground that my feet have been soaked in no time. Granted this morning I did not include the bit of path that goes past the old millpond. It rained so much yesterday that I suspect the mud puddles will have all joined forces to make the place impassable unless you wear wellies, or even the kind of waders fishermen wear! 

But today is a big improvement on yesterday. There is even a touch of blue in the sky. Which is just as well as I need to go to the post office with a batch of cards to post and a parcel to send to the southern branch of the family - Christmas presents for our son and family as we won’t see them until ... goodness knows when? Maybe not until we all have been vaccinated! Fingers crossed!

Thinking of Christmas, here is an unusual addition to the Nativity Scene. It was created by a Neapolitan artist and no doubt features in many Christmas cribs in Naples, where Maradona is still revered.

Over in the States they continue to have a lot of fuss about that election they had recently. Pro-Trump supporters protesting against Biden winning the election clashed with counter protesters. Four people were apparently stabbed! And goodness knows how many were arrested. The church has joined in, urging people to go on “Jericho Marches”. They’ve even been blowing shofars – a ram’s horn used in Jewish religious ceremonies – to bring down “the spiritual walls of corruption”. People who should know better, or who might be expected to stand for law and order, having worked for White House security, like retired army general Mike Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, seem to be encouraging the protests. He told the protesters they were all standing inside Jericho after breaching its walls. In that curious way the Americans, or at least some of them, have of mixing religion with politics, they are saying things like this: “We believe what is going on in this county is an important thing. It’s a balance between biblical values and anti-biblical values.”

Our own rather odd blond PM got a mention from actor George Clooney in an article I read yesterday. It seems that some years ago George Clooney suggested that the UK should return the Parthenon marbles to Greece and Boris Johnson said that his remarks made him into an art thief just as Hitler was an art thief. Quite a comparison, but then, Mr Johnson always was flamboyant in his speech. At the time George Clooney was dating Amal Alamuddin (now Mrs Clooney) who was coincidentally working as a lawyer on behalf of Greece in the matter of the Marbles. She gave him a whole load of useful arguments and information to counter Mr Johnson. And maybe that helped cement the Alamuddin-Clooney relationship. Who knows?  

The interviewer suggested this might be the case, and that perhaps he owed his current happiness to Boris Johnson. To which George Clooney replied:- 

“You’re right! So, what, I should send him a thank you note? I’ll send him a note. A thank you note. And a comb.”’

What a fine idea!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!