Out and about, dodging the weather. Bits of Michael Rosen and John Lennon.

It’s Wednesday. I cycled to Uppermill market in the sunshine - very pleasant. After having a chat with an old friend - I usually see her husband at the Wednesday market - was she checking up on us? - I finished my shopping and headed for home, still in the sunshine. 

As I approached Delph crossroads, almost home, I realised it had gone very dark and it was just starting to rain. I stopped briefly for a chat about cycling with the handyman who works at the pub next door but we had to cut our chat short as the rain was getting heavier. I just managed to get into the house as the real downpour started ... and so did the thunder!! 

Some time later, towards the end of the morning, the sun reappeared and I walked into village for odds and end I hadn’t wanted to carry in my often overloaded saddlebags on my bike. Once again I arrived home just as the rain and thunder returned.

My photos give a falsely reassuring impression of fine sunny weather. Who says the camera never lies?

Looking at the river as it goes through the village, sizing up a possible photo, I spotted the heron in a bit of old mill-working waterworks. 

 

He was so still I thought at first that someone had put a model heron there ... until he moved his head and eventually flew off. 

 

That was all before the clouds moved back in. Once again I arrived home just in time. Strange weather! It’s hard to know what to wear when you go for a walk as between thunderstorms it’s quite pleasantly warm. 

Yesterday was fine and dry all day. So, of course, we had to stay in and wait for a delivery ... which arrived just as the afternoon turned into evening. No doubt the delivery man had been on the go all day! Consequently, we put our evening meal on hold and went out to catch the last of the sunshine. 

 

Michael Rosen is writing a lot of nostalgic stuff about his childhood, mostly in Pinner I think, as well as satyrical bits and pieces purporting to come from our PM, such as this:

“Dear Dominic

Did you see I've OK'd the Covid inquiry? You'd better work out how you're going to tackle the rumour that was in the press that claimed  you said, 'if some pensioners die, too bad' or some such. I'm working on my 'bodies piling up' gag. 

Alibi ad lib

Boris”.

And in between times he posts things like this:

PROMISED LAND

By Michael Rosen

A family arrived and said they had papers

To prove that his house was theirs.

— No, no, said the man, my people have always lived here,

My father, grandfather .... and look the garden,

My great-grandfather planted that.

— No, no, said the family, look at the documents.

There was a stack of them.

— Where do I start? said the man.

— No need to read the beginning, they said,

Turn to the page marked ‘Promised Land’.

— Are they legal? he said, who wrote them?

— God, they said, God wrote them, look,

Here come His tanks.

And in response on one of the sites someone posted this:

"Imagine there's no countries,

it isn't hard to do. 

Nothing to kill or die for

and no religion, too.

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

living life in peace.

You may say I'm a dreamer,

but I'm not the only one.

I hope some day you'll join us

and the world will live as one."

~ John Lennon

That’s all.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!