Well, they managed a fine sunny day for Party in the Park yesterday. We could hear the music whenever we opened the back door of our house. I don’t think we missed much by not being there. We heard fireworks going off at about 10.30 pm, marking the end of the party, but a good hour later I could still hear people making their way homewards, going noisily past our house in the rain, because by then the rain had moved in.
It was still raining, or perhaps just raining again, when I woke up this morning. However, I managed to find a window of opportunity to run round the village without getting soaked. By midday it was raining again. The weather gurus tell us there will be more rain and possibly even thunderstorms over the next day so.
Today is the Autumn equinox, officially the end of summer (what summer? say the pessimists, despite our having had a lovely week) so I expect the druids will be up to something. According to something I read, the equinox is followed in a couple of days by the equilux. I’d never heard of that before. Is it a new invention? When I investigated I discovered that the equinox is all about the sun going over the equator at an exact midpoint. However, because of light refraction, there is still light for a time once the sun is no longer visible. This adds extra time to daylight hours. When we get to the equilux, this no longer happens and the day and night are of exactly equal length … assuming, that is, that the sky is clear and cloud and general gloom convinces us that it has gone dark earlier than expected. Hey! Ho! The nights are drawing in!
Here’s a headline from the Manchester Evening News that caught my attention, about the venerable Sam’s Chop House in central Manchester:
“The mum took to Tripadvisor to fume: "We had to entertain them with iPads because the restaurant didn’t provide anything for children to do like usual restaurants, not even food menus for them!"”
Hmmm! She gave the place a very poor review - the chops or steaks were too small, the vegetables were too al dente for her liking, and there was no children’s menu! Maybe that mum should have done some research into the famous Sam’s Chop House and reserved the visit for an occasion when the children weren’t accompanying them. And besides, since when are restaurants expected to provide entertainment for children. I am aware that many places do so but a sensible mum makes sure her children have small, non-noisy toys to entertain them. We’ve done quite a lot of family reunion meals where the groups of small cousins happily occupy themselves with construction toys while the grown-ups chat.
The Labour Party has begun its party conference in Liverpool under a cloud of criticism. Dodgy donations (presumably replacing the subscription lost by driving out, sometimes actually expelling, socialist-leaning supporters), too many gifts accepted, and gloomy hints of continued austerity! Oh dear! Angela Rayner declares herself confident that her boss’s popularity ratings will bounce back up, but I suppose she has to say that! We shall see!
Seeking more cheerful news, I came across another animal-related feel-good story about some people who took their cat with them on a camping holiday in Yellowstone Park. Something spooked the cat and it escaped into the depths of the park. After hunting formit for the rest of their stay there the couple had to resign themselves to going home without moggie. Two months later Rayne Beau (yes, Rayne Beau not Rainbow) was found some 800 miles from Yellowstone and because he had a chip he was reunited with his relieved owners! Altogether … Aaah!
But really, who takes their cat on a camping holiday?
Here’s another tale, this time about a cat who seemingly came back from the dead. A feel-good story with hints of feel-bad. These cat owners left Ted the cat with a neighbour while they went on a family holiday. The neighbour informed them the cat drowned in her pond. The family was sad and arranged for Ted the cat to be cremated at a cost of £130 !! And then Ted returned home. Ted’s owner is rather sad that there is a family somewhere “missing someone”.
I’m pretty sure it used to be common practice to dig a hole in a flower bed or a quiet corner of the garden and bury your deceased pet there, maybe marking the spot in some way if you felt sentimental.
So it goes.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment