Out running this morning, I turned a corner onto the bridle path and saw one of the regular dog-walkers, an old friend from the days when we had a film society in the village, waving to me. As I got closer I realised that she was indicating that I should approach quietly and carefully. Also I could see that she had her dog on his lead, an unusual thing as he is quite an old and sensible dog, unlikely to do anything untoward. So what was going on.
When I reached her, she pointed up the hillside and whispered, “Can you see the deer?” Well, no, I couldn’t! She said she thought he had ducked down in the undergrowth as until then she had still been able to see his ears flick from time to time. Or maybe he had just quietly moved on. In compensation she showed me a photo she had taken yesterday of the deer in more or less the same spot. She told there are often deer on that hillside but that since the first lockdown they have been more frequent visitors.
So why have I not seen them?
They say that deer are also plentiful in the valley between Delph and Slackcote, where we used to live, over 30 years ago now, but I have never seen any deer there either! Maybe they are avoiding me. Maybe ai am just too noisy. We haven’t walked that route for a few months now. We like to do that walk every so often, taking a look at the house we outgrew as the children grew bigger. Walking up and down the valley was something we did regularly. We never saw deer then either. Mind you, at that time, nobody ever told us in semi-reverential tones, “There are loads of deer in the valley!”
Squirrels are a different story,
as are herons.
I come across the odd snail crossing my (bridle) path if it’s been raining
and one day last week there was a frog.
So it goes!
It could be said that Christian Eriksen is a lucky young man. When he collapsed on the football pitch on Saturday a German emergency doctor, who had been doing a training session with the touchline medical team, was watching the match from the stands. Realising that the touchline team was struggling he was able to rush onto the pitch and apply his expert knowledge. He ensured the defibrillator was used quickly, time being of the essence. When the young footballer opened his eyes, the doctor asked him in English, “Are you back again?” He replied, “Yes, I am here’”. And then he said, “Oh shit, I’ve only just turned 29 years old.”
Imagine being brought back from the dead and still managing to swear in a foreign language! Pretty impressive!
But he was lucky - lucky that the specialist was there to help, lucky that there were defibrillators on hand, lucky that the technology exists. And now he’s going to be fitted with heart starter, to avoid problems in the future. Will he still be able to play football? I don’t know. But if this had happened 50 years ago he would have been dead. A lucky young man!
His team played Belgium last night. Apparently he can see Parken, Denmark’s national stadium from his bedroom in Rigshospitalet. So maybe he heard the cheers for him when they stopped the game at the 10th minute (his shirt in number 10). The players applauded as the Danish crowd unfurled a banner saying: "All of Denmark is with you Christian."
A lucky young man also to be so loved!
His team was not so lucky last night. Belgium won 2-0. So it goes!
They might have rain for the England - Scotland match at Wembley this evening, according to the weather report on the radio just now.
We still seem to be avoiding the rain here, although I might have just put a hex on that by saying so. I thought we had had enough overnight rain recently to keep my pots of flowers watered but this was not so. I looked at my pot of violas yesterday and realised that they were drooping. The huge ball of little blossoms must have prevented rain from reaching the soil in the pot. So I had to get my watering can out. This morning they are restored to their former glory.
A sign of how little rain we have had is the water level in the water barrel in the garden. I’ve been dipping into it to water my flower pots and it’s not been replenished.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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