The weather forecast last night was giving a Red Warning for some parts of the country, mainly Scotland and the North East of England. Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “Confidence has increased in the chances of considerable impacts from rainfall in parts of the east of Scotland from Storm Babet, which has resulted in the escalation to the Red warning.” Floods are likely, it seems.
Well, fortunately Storm Babet has treated us quite kindly here in the North West. We managed to go for a walk in the windy sunshine yesterday before the rain moved in later in the afternoon. And this morning, which I had expected to be wet, was dry when I set out to run round the village. I did put my raincoat on as my phone app warned me about “drizzle starting in 17 minutes”. And it was probably about that length of time later that drizzle did indeed start, turning to rather heavier rain after a while. But by then I was out and about so it didn’t matter. Somehow it’s easier to cope with rain that starts while you are out running than it is to step,out of the door into the already falling rain.
By midday we had some sunshine and quite extensive patches of blue sky; whether or not there was enough to make a sailor a pair of trousers, my grandmother’s method of assessing how far to trust it to stay fine, is debatable.
Yesterday I rambled on a bit about traditions. Today I read about King Charles attending a reception and dinner to recognise the work of the City of London civic institutions and Livery Companies – the city’s ancient and modern trade guilds. Here’s a bit of Wiki info:
“Administratively, the City of London is not one of the London boroughs, a status reserved for the other 32 districts (including Greater London's only other city, the City of Westminster). It is also a separate ceremonial county, being an enclave surrounded by Greater London, and is the smallest ceremonial county in England.”
There you go, a bit like Vatican City, in Rome but not really Rome. Okay, the City of London is not quite the same as the Vatican but it has its own Lord Mayor and merits official visits from the king.
Here comes the old tradition bit:
“During the visit, in a ceremony dating back to 1689 and King William III that traditionally takes place on the first visit of a new Sovereign, he was presented with the Pearl Sword, which is thought to have been presented to the City of London by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571. He then returned the sword, confirming the Lord Mayor’s authority in the Square Mile when the monarch is not present.”
It seems Charles spoke about the need for tolerance and acceptance, especially religious tolerance, without actually mentioning Israel and Palestine.
Our Prime Minister has flown out to Israel today. I suppose it was inevitable that he would do so, Biden having been there yesterday. It is unclear to me quite what he hopes to achieve, but there it is.
Meanwhile, demonstrations have been going on in many places, calling for a ceasefire, with protestors from all sorts of different groups.
Here is a link to an article by someone whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack: “I lost my parents in the Hamas attack. My family want peace, not revenge for their deaths.” Magen Inon.
And here is a link to day four of a diary by Ziad, a 35-year-old Palestinian, telling of his fleeing Gaza with his sister and their cats and their nomadic existence since then. It’s worth looking up his earlier entries too. If he survives the war, he should compile his diary into a book. We are fortunate to be in a safe place to read his diary entries.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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