The sun came out as we ate yesterday evening - about time too! So we went for an after dinner stroll. In the process we rescued a baby thrush. Or at any rate we hope we rescued a baby thrush. He was sitting by himself at the very edge of the lane, out of the way of the odd passing car (fortunately the lane is not very busy with traffic) but vulnerable to the local cats. He was still there on our way back so Phil tried to pick him up and put him on higher ground. Baby Thrush set off with a squawk. Mummy Thrush arrived, also squawking. We left them to it!
Mark Cavendish got his stage win yesterday as well. We’ll see where he goes from there. He was congratulated by almost every other rider, well, at least every other well-known rider. It was as if they were all rooting for him, knowing this is almost certainly his last tour, pleased to see him achieve his goal.
It was interesting, well, I found it interesting and, truth to tell, slightly annoying, that the commentators kept going on about how OLD he is. Such an achievement at the grand old age of … 39!!! Yes, I can remember when 40 seemed ancient. Yes, the vast majority of the riders look like teenagers. And yes, most footballers seem extremely young these days. I’m sure sportsmen used to continue professionally longer than they do nowadays. Or maybe I’m just delusional!
In tennis, we have Rafa Nadal (38 years old) and Andy Murray (37 - aka Sir Andrew Barron Murray OBE!) both making their swan songs. I sometimes wonder, by the way, if tennis players start serious training too young and too intensively, judging by the number of injuries and strains they seem to suffer from.
Getting back to cyclists, it seems to me that they too suffer injuries, usually from falling off their bikes on dangerously fast descents, but they appear to have treatment and then get back on their bikes and get on with things. In yesterday’s sprint several crashes were caused by riders bunched together and being unable to avoid crashing into traffic islands. Most of them just got up, got back on their bikes and carried on with the race. Had they been footballers they would have been rolling around dramatically on the ground. One difference is that while footballer writhe in agony the game is suspended but if cyclists did the same the race would have been a kilometre or more down the road by the time their dramatic performance ended!
I think you can tell that I quite admire cyclists. Maybe it’s because I’m an occasional strictly fair-weather cyclist myself.
Enough of that.
I took my polling card and my photo ID out with me when I went for a run this morning. I did my duty and put my cross on the voting paper. Maybe it will make a difference. One man I spoke to in the village said he never votes as they are all as bad as each other! But if you don’t vote you really can’t complain.
The party leaders were running around yesterday, being seen in as many places as possible. This morning someone posted a picture of Rishi Sunak leaving a fast food outlet with paper bags of food, alongside a photo of Mr Burns from The Simpsons in a supermarket. The caption read:
“Every one of Rishi Sunak's "I'm doing a normal thing" photos gives off Mr. Burns without Smithers energy.”
Quite so! I don’t want my politicians to go round trying to look “just like one of the people”. It’s not necessary. I don’t want them donning hi-vis vests and hats to visit building sites. I don’t want them driving bulldozers or buses. I don’t want them pretending to eat hotdogs and Cornish pasties. I just want them to debate things seriously and improve the state of things!
Okay! That’s another rant out of the way.
Finally, here’s a link to an article about the dire state of traditional food markets in Spain. Young people are not shopping there. It’s faster and possibly cheaper in the big chain supermarkets. Places like La Boquería in Barcelona and la Vucciria in Palermo, Italy, are becoming places for tourists to take interesting selfies rather than places for locals to shop, which is a shame! But there it is. The pace of life has changed.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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