Disappointing June weather. Her Majesty. Nationality questions.

It’s a very dull and damp June day. So much for summer! Last night we had a glorious sunset which surely should have been a sign of good weather today but that is not the case. If I were Her Majesty I think this morning I might well have said, “Forget jubilee celebrations, I’m staying in bed!”. As it was, just being me, I did consider staying in bed but in the end I got up and ran. I saw a few dog-walkers. That’s all. 

No, not quite all. I also saw our local heron out fishing.

Here’s something I saw on Facebook yesterday:

“I’ve been back to a EU country this week for the first time in 3 years. Exploring big towns and cities I’ve seen food on the shelves in the supermarkets, children ride bikes down the street, I haven’t seen one homeless person and there is definitely a refreshing absence of flags.

I don’t want to go home.

But watching monarchists boo the PM today, while the Queen yet again refused to attend an event with him makes me think maybe the tectonic plates are finally shifting. The scales are falling from the eyes of those that make up traditional, conservative, patriotic England...and their ringleader is none other than the living symbol of tradition and conserving British values. It’s beautifully unexpected...”

Hmmmm! I’m not sure the queen was refusing to go because Boris was there but …. it’s a nice idea. It amuses me that people ascribe motivations for her actions to the queen. Another suggestion is that the sketch she apparently did with Paddington Bear (which I haven’t actually seen but only had described to me) is a sign that she is in favour of welcoming refugees into the country and against packing them off to Rwanda. Who knows?

Amidst all the odds and ends of cartoons and comments about the jubilee celebrations, I came across this re-captioning of an old photo of her Majesty. 

 

As the wife of a chess player, I appreciate such things.

Everything has gone fairly quiet about Brexit and it’s consequences but yesterday I came across this about the artist Anthony Gormley:

“The acclaimed British sculptor Antony Gormley is to become a German citizen because of the “tragedy” of Brexit. 

Speaking at a major retrospective of his work at the Museum Voorlinden near The Hague, Gormley, who is half-German, said his strong feelings about Britain’s departure from Europe had prompted him to apply for German nationality.

“I’m embarrassed about Brexit: it’s a practical disaster, a betrayal of my parents’ and grandparents’ sacrifice to make a Europe that was not going to be divided again. It’s a tragedy,” said the Turner prize-winning creator of the Angel of the North sculpture, at the launch of his show at Wassenaar, in the Netherlands.”

It’s a pity to lose him. I remember the first time we stopped, en route to a friend’s house in the North East, to admire the Angel of the North. And last summer I finally got round to seeing his famous men on Crosby beach. What happens now? Does he have dual nationality or will he have to apply for settled status if he wants to spend any length of time here? Maybe he won’t want to spend time here!

Personally, I don’t have any burning desire to give up British citizenship and take on a different nationality. I like living where we do. We’re fortunate to have good country walks to hand. Our neighbours are friendly enough. Of course, I would like to see the country run in a different manner. I would like to be back in Europe. I would like to see more fairness all round. But that’s how things are at the moment.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!