Apparently I missed seeing the northern lights last night. I didn’t know we were expecting them. My son sent a photo of the view from his garden in Buckinghamshire. I wasn’t aware you could see them so far south. It’s all to do with solar activity and storms in space, or so I have been told. I’ll look out tonight and see if there is anything of note. I might have to look out of the attic window, just to get a bit of height. We shall see! But as a rule it’s hard to see celestial phenomena from our house, either because we are too low down or because the cloud has moved in. Today is fine and sunny so we are in with a chance.
Taking advantage of the warm and sunny weather, we have tidied up the garden, Phil has cut the grass and I have done loads of washing which has dried extra fast in the sunshine!
Out in the wider world Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected US pressure to hold off an attack on Rafah, saying that Hamas has based most of its top leaders and remaining forces there. And so residents of neighbourhoods in central Rafah have been told to evacuate. Here are a couple more Michael Rosen posts on this:
“'You seem worried,' said the King to his tutor.
'Yes,' said the tutor.
'Can I help? What's troubling you?' said the King.
'Oh, nothing you can help me with,' said the tutor.
'Is it the news about the enemy?' said the King.
'Not directly,' said the tutor.
'Ah, let me guess,' said the King, 'you're worried that we've gone too far this time. We've overdone the scorched earth thing?'
'Not exactly,' said the tutor.
'I give up,' said the King, 'I can't think what it is.'
'I'm very worried that what we're doing is a very bad look,' said the tutor.
'What? The death and destruction, you mean?' said the King.
'Yes,' said the tutor.
'So you're not worried about what we've done,' said the King, 'you're worried about what it looks like?'
'Exactly,' said the tutor.
'Well you're the clever one round here,' said the King, 'I'm sure if you concentrate you'll find a way of making it all look better.'
'Good point, sir,' said the tutor, 'so long as we can carry on what we're actually doing.'
'The scorched earth stuff, you mean?' said the King.
'Yes,' said the tutor.
'Oh yes we have to do that,' said the King.
'That's what I thought,' said the tutor. 'And if I may say so, sir, you're being very astute today.'
'Thank you, tutor,' said the King.”
“'Now here's an interesting point, tutor,' said the King, 'in years to come, people will wonder whether it was a matter of 'the world couldn't do anything about it', or 'the world wouldn't do anything about it'.
'Yes, that is a very interesting point,' said the King's tutor.
'And do you think this in itself is an interesting intellectual point?' said the King, 'Or is it something that really matters right now?'
'Well,' said the tutor, 'certainly if we can have people walking about wondering about such things, it means there are fewer people trying to stop us.'
'I'm guessing there, tutor,' said the King, 'you're trying to say something about actions matter more than words.'
'Well, if the actions are happening right now, then it really doesn't matter what words are being argued over again and again and again, does it?' said the tutor.
'Well why do people do it, then?' said the King, 'I mean we're doing it right now.'
'Exactly,' said the tutor, 'and all the time we're getting on with the actions.'
'Jolly good,' said the King.”
No further comment.
I’m reading “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver, a sort of reworking of “David Copperfield”. One of the things I like about Barbara Kingsolver is her inclusion of interesting facts from real-life history in her novels.nIn this book it’s an explanation of the term “rednecks”, a term I’ve always known as a derogatory term for poor, and poorly educated, white people in the southern state of the USA, as in Randy Newman’s song. They were so called, I understood, because of their sunburned necks from working the fields.
In this novel, a teacher tells his high school students that it refers to red bandanas worn by striking mineworkers in the Battle of Blair Mountain in August 1921. Here’s some information:-
“The Battle of Blair Mountain saw 10,000 West Virginia coal miners march in protest of perilous work conditions, squalid housing and low wages, among other grievances. They set out from the small hamlet of Marmet, with the goal of advancing upon Mingo County, a few days’ travels away to meet the coal companies on their own turf and demand redress. They would not reach their goal; the marchers instead faced opposition from deputized townspeople and businesspeople who opposed their union organizing, and more importantly, from local and federal law enforcement that brutally shut down the burgeoning movement. The opposing sides clashed near Blair Mountain, a 2,000-foot peak in southwestern Logan County, giving the battle its name.
The miners never made it past the mountain, and while experts don’t have a definitive death toll, estimates say about 16 miners died in the fighting, although many more were displaced by evictions and violence. Despite the seemingly low death toll, the Battle of Blair Mountain still looms large in the minds of today’s Appalachian activists and organizers as a time when working class and impoverished Americans came together to fight for their rights. For some advocating for labor rights today, the battle also is a reminder of what poor Appalachians are capable of.
Miners then often lived in company towns, paying rent for company-owned shacks and buying groceries from the company-owned store with “scrip.” Scrip wasn’t accepted as U.S. currency, yet that’s how the miners were paid. For years, miners had organized through unions including the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), leading protests and strikes..”
There’s more than one explanation for most things.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone.
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