I say that I don’t mind running in the rain but what I really mean is that I don’t mind running in the drizzle. Proper rain is a different matter. So when my alarm rang this morning and I heard the rain hammering down , I reset it and went back to sleep. Exercise will have to wait.
They don’t have a rain problem as a rule in southern Europe. However, a beach in Sardinia is reported to be banning sun umbrellas for people aged between 10 and 65. They have decided to impose stricter rules in order to preserve the natural beauty of Punta Molentis, which is located within a designated conservation area. Mind you, if you look at photos of the beach full of sun umbrellas there’s not a lot of beach to see, just a lot of umbrellas.
It’s a strange habit the Italians seem to have of privatising beaches. We first came across it when we went to a language school in Viareggio in Tuscany. The school gave us passes to alllow us to access the beach “owned” by one of the hotels. If you wanted a ‘free’ beach you had to go some distance out of town. Here’s a link to the article about Sardinia.
Here’s another environmental issue and new word for today: “bycatch”. It’s the term used for the accidental capture and killing of non-target species by fishing vessels, and it is having a quite devastating effect on marine species such as dolphins and whales as well as smaller creatures. Modern methods of fishing are causing environmental problems.
I wrote about actors protesting at audience members using mobile phoes and even laptops during performances. Well, here’s a link to an article about a gurgling baby disrupting a performance by Kenneth Branagh at the RSC. The baby wasn’t crying, just awake and making baby noises, “chirping” as one complainer put it. People queued up to complain and asked that the mother and baby not be allowed back for the second half.
My, oh, my!
What was she doing with a baby at the performance is not explained. Long, long ago our son managed to disrupt a friend’s wedding by “chirping” throughout the service. Nobody minded.
On the subject of weddings, the singer Dua Lipa has followed so many celebrities by getting married in Italy, wel, she didn’t actually get married in Italy. The wedding took place in London and she featured in fashion pages for wearing a suit rather than a frothy frock.
But she and her new husband, the actor Callum Turner, held a two- or three-day-long party in Palermo, Sicily, to celebrate. I have an Italian friend who comes from Palermo. She expressed indignation on the part of her fellow Palermitanos (Palermitani?) because whole sections of the city were closed, streets were cut off, public transport was disrupted for the celebrations. People going about their ordinary, but now disrupted, lives, people who had no idea who Dua Lipa is, declared that closing the town for a visit from the Pope was understandable but that this was really not acceptable. Quite so! But I suspect that some people in the catering sector were leased to host them.
Such is modern living.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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