Weather reports. Being patriotic. The importance of names. Urban animals.

Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze! That’s what my weather app tells me. In an odd reversal of the usual way of doing things around here - we often start the day with sunshine and deteriorate into dull and cloudy even if not damp - today began with rain and has turned into a fine and sunny day. Excellent!

As I set off on my run around the village, I noticed that the house next door has a huge Union Jack in the front window. Who knew they were so patriotic! And they are mostly American, apart from the father of the family, who is a local man. His wife hails from Florida and their offspring, now in their early twenties, still speak with an American accent despite ten years or so in the UK. 

So, anyway, it seems to be another fine day for celebrating royalty. While people in London yesterday oohed and ahed at the Red Arrows filling the sky with red, white and blue vapour trails, my Italian friend watched similar planes fill the sky over Italy with red, white and green trails. I have not idea what the occasion was. She once explained the colours to us: green for the fields and hills where young Italians fought during the war, white for the snow in the mountains where Italians died fighting and red for the blood that was shed. I do not know if our red, white and blue have any significance beyond being the flags of various patron saints.

National identity! I hear that Turkey wants to change its name. The Turkish government has apparently sent a letter to the United Nations formally requesting that it be referred to as Türkiye. No doubt we will all comply and begin to use the requested version of the name. How soon before Spain requests the use of España, Italy the use of Italia, Germany the use of Deutschland and so on? Maybe it is time we started agitating to be called England everywhere and stop other nations referring to us a Inglaterra, Angleterre and Inghilterra! What’s in a name, after all!

My friend Colin has commented recently on wild boar in city centres in Spain. Around here we have urban foxes and occasionally in our garden pheasants or the odd cockerel. And, of course, grey squirrels. On rare occasions I have seen deer on the hillside while out running. In Dallas, Texas, they have coyotes in their suburbs! One recently tried to snatch a toddler off the family porch, resulting on the child having to go to hospital. Some people blamed the residents, saying that they have been feeding and even petting the coyotes. I always understood that coyotes were rather shy creatures. However, like foxes they will have learnt to scavenge for food close to places where the humans live! Bears likewise, in other parts of the USA! There have been stories recently of people having left their car windows open only to find it full of bears later! As we encroach on wild animals’ natural habitat, fairy stories come true and they encroach on ours. The world is weird and strange!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!