2022 May – What a difference, Social, Friendly Fire, Dentist, Interactions, Ghost Riding the Whip, Chill Swimming, Cliveden, Antimony, The Crows Have Eyes, Rabies, Prague, Guilty Pleasures,
What a difference a month makes
This is a picture of me in the wild woods under the Sentinel Oaks this month.
Isn’t nature quite amazing?
Compared to last month.
I know trees grow leaves every year but hey, we should really stop and take the time to marvel, shouldn’t we?
Social
This is a picture Mum took of me for insta.
Love her though I do, it is also plainly recognisable just how much of a philistine Mum is when it comes to social media stuff. Clueless. Honestly. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so dire. Or so embarrassing.
Anyway, the lovely Ryan from DogandPigDesign is trying to sort Mum out with social. Good luck with that Ryan.
No, really.
I mean it.
Fun facts: Philistine – ummmnnn … as with many relatively modern usages of words, there doesn’t seem to be a single, clear definition. One of the more interesting is Matthew Arnold’s interpretation. It stood the test of time for about 100 years. (See below in reading).
Friendly Fire
This is a picture of me taking Mum out for a very long walk indeed.
It’s all because of this online dating malarkey, which Mum says is an experience, for sure.
Mum reckons that she has a stubborn streak of impulsiveness.
Turns out that this is a startlingly accurate insight.
Honestly she’s a complete nightmare. But you all know that by now don’t you?
Mum’s note to self: must try harder / do better
Being a sensitive doggo, I can usually tell if Mum is twitched about something. So, to distract her, I may have unexpectedly launched myself onto her lap. Several times this week actually. Mum says she is now completely covered in bruises.
Well it’s taken her mind off things.
Thank you, it’s my pleasure.
She’s mostly got over herself, so I reckon we’re all cool now.
Dentist
This is a picture of me looking after and being kind to Mum because (good grief) she needs it at the moment.
Mum has been to the dentist today. They were going to do (whatever it is they were going to do) in 2x appointments. Mum (being Mum) said she couldn’t be bothered with all that palaver and they should just anaesthetise her whole mouth and get on with it. I have a feeling Mum may be regretting that now. 😊 Even the dentist asked if she was absolutely sure – they thought it would ‘feel a bit odd’ (dentist-speak for ‘feel a bit terrible’).
It’s the same old story isn’t it?
Do something totally stupid (on impulse – sigh) and pay the price.
Er…. Mum’s note to self: must try harder / do better
Need I say more?
If any of you can get through to her then, please, don’t let me stand in your way……
Interactions
This is a picture of me having a meaningful interaction with offspring #3 who is staying for the weekend.
Someone on the radio quoted a bit of research which concluded that those with a dog have 69 per cent more ‘meaningful’ interactions a month – one-to-ones which boost their overall mood – than those without a pet.
Well, they very clearly don’t have me as a pet do they?
I would say that Mum has had fewer ‘meaningful’ interactions than she has ever had in her life, due to me being with her when she’s out and about.
Should I feel sorry for Mum …..?
Nah – she made her decision years ago to commit to me full on and 100% – all in. Failure is not an option Saffron. And to be fair to her, she’s stuck with it.
However, acquiring me in the first place…?? Another impulsive decision. (See November 2020 diary entry for the full deets).
Er….. Mum’s note to self: must try harder / do better. 😊
Will she ever learn……
It’s not looking promising, is it?
Ghost Riding the Whip
This is a picture of me in my car crate and good to go. I like it in here. It is all my own space, I get treats and I can watch the world go by. No-one can get at me. It’s pretty comfy actually thank you for asking.
En route for walkies just after 7am, in the car and waiting at the red light next to the school. Good song on the radio (volume right up) so Mum was, as normal, singing along and bopping around in the car. Car next door (curious?) moved forward a bit and the bloke inside was laughing at Mum and then, windows wound down, joined in. Same radio station. 😊 Happy times eh?
Mum has decided this will be her new challenge – to get sad looking fellow drivers (waiting at red lights only) to smile. If she’s on her own, she always sings and bops around in the car at red lights anyway, so why not?
Given her predilection for impulsiveness, let’s hope it stops here. Otherwise before you know it she’ll be tempted to try Ghost Riding the Whip (yeah, look it up if you don’t know what it is).
…..lorry driver waiting at the red lights off the A14 – laughing and a thumbs up
…community ambulance driver at the red lights off the A414 – leant out of the window and grinned and one of the passengers smiled and waved
…jaguar driver at the red lights before the turnoff to Sainsburys (tough audience but Mum is nothing if not persistent, helped by D: Ream and ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ on the radio and he cracked eventually – shaking his head and sort of smiling).
S’good enough a victory for Mum. Whoop. 😊
Nice.
Why not give it a go yourself …. spread a little happiness.
Chill / river swimming
Following on from my December 2021 diary post, Mum has finally got her act together and joined a local group and been chill / river swimming. This is them in the water – you can probs only just about make them out.
They all took the plunge just below one of the locks in Godmanchester. Mum says it was ‘invigorating’ and surprisingly it wasn’t impossibly cold. Incredibly surreal swimming alongside swans on a beautiful calm evening. Really quite lovely.
Mum says she will defo do it again, nice people to swim with and she reckons she will sleep well tonight too!
Sooooo, Mum has done it again – gone to Hemingford at 8pm and dropped into the river with about 10 others. In theory a swim under a full moon but in practise a swim under the clouds. Chillier and swam further this time. Again, really relaxing and fun. Feels so good afterwards. Think this might become addictive……
Cliveden
And going back a few years now, solo (sunrise) swimming in the Thames just below Cliveden.
The river widens out and there are a number of small islands where it’s possible to moor up. Looking downstream from Cookham lock, on the left there is a steep tree covered hillside leading up to Cliveden House and on the right are open fields populated with cattle, a battered set of railings and a well-used footpath.
Early morning, with the sun not yet properly risen, de-robe on the back of the boat and dangle your feet in the water. Oooh cold. Gently slip into the Thames with an involuntary gasp as the chill touches your skin. Only up to your elbows at this point as the water is still quite shallow near the mooring, feet sinking into the silt. Deep breath and slide fully into the water.
Swimming slowly upstream past the islands and towards the lock and the footbridge. Just beautiful. It’s not quiet though – lots of noise from the natural world – birds, insects and the river lapping at the banks. The sounds echoed and amplified over the water.
No man-made noises as yet and this makes it an entirely sublime experience. The local wildlife intent with simply getting on with the business of being alive. The propinquity of a naked, stray human doesn’t seem to faze them at all.
Swim to the Cliveden side of the river, roll onto your back and just float, suspended in the chilly water, staring up at the tree canopy. Rays of early morning sunlight flickering through the leaves and hitting the green, rippling water.
Immersed and soaking-in the tranquillity and sheer beauty of it.
An unspeakably profound, serene feeling of complete and utter solitude and peacefulness. The world is simply breathing and so are you.
Now drifting gently downstream in the current, having to paddle a little every now and again to keep away from the bank. Close to the boat, swim leisurely to the stern, climb back out and onto the bathing platform.
Quick shower and towel off. Shrug into some jeans, t-shirt and fleecy (underwear too much hassle with a still-damp body). Grab a blanket and a mug of scorching black coffee and sit on the roof, wrapped up and huddled, teeth chattering. Water dripping from your hair down your back. Waiting for the coffee to heat you up from the inside. The sun isn’t hot enough to heat you from the outside and won’t be for hours yet.
No one else up and about yet and unlikely to be for ages. Close your eyes, try and relax while your body gradually warms…..
Antimony
Mum is super smug today because she’s finished the quick crossword in New Scientist Mag. It doesn’t happen often. There’s not a hope of her doing the cryptic. Her favourite word today – antimony – somehow she dragged that out of the deepest, darkest, foggy recesses of dimly remembered Chemistry O / A levels …
Fun facts: Antimony (from the Greek anti and monos – i.e. not alone) is a lustrous grey metalloid and is very reactive – hence ‘not alone’ obvs. There is one stable-ish form (metallic) and the rest are yellow, black and (yup) explosive. Apparently used in antiquity within compounds of eyeliner (kohl) and mascara. In the periodic table it is known as Stibium Sb (‘stibi’ means mark, probs the makeup connection) and it lies below arsenic – a bit of a clue as to its toxicity! Handy hint – it looks nice but suggest you don’t ingest this. Ever. It is even possible that Mozart died as a result of taking patent medication containing antimony. You have been warned. Pretty tho’.
The Crows Have Eyes
Up early again and out. Another quite glorious day and the wild woods are soooooo tranquil and calming.
Aaaaah really appreciated at this point in time. Saw deer and heard a cuckoo and very loud birdsong in general. Hares and rabbits scurrying around too – lovely to see our local wildlife.
If only I wasn’t on a long lead eh….??
The bluebells are still going strong plus primroses and all sorts of other woodland flowers – just beautiful with drops of dew glistening and glinting in the early morning sunshine. Calming and spiritual.
And this.
What on earth….??? A twiggy Eye of Sauron Saffron perhaps?
When we got home, Mum put bird food out in the garden and the starlings arrived en masse – like tipping out a large bucket of birds. Ravens (unusual, they are normally quite shy) and heaps of sparrows too. The garden temporarily looked like something out of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ ….. or perhaps ‘The Crows Have Eyes’ (a reference for those super cool Schitt$ Creek fans amongst you – yeah don’t be shy now, you know who you are – also see music below).
Rabies
I don’t know what to say.
Mum is trying to get herself organised to go out and visit offspring #2 who is miles way overseas. Mum isn’t taking me which is a bit rude tbh. She didn’t even ask. D’ya know what, if she asks now, I might just say no. So there. See how she likes that eh?
Anyhow, the flight is the best part of 20 hours, so that sounds like fun doesn’t it? Apparently, to get into the country Mum has to have loads of jabs, including 3 for rabies.
Whaaaa!!??
This means that for years now I have been living with someone who could potentially have killed me at any second. Doesn’t Mum know that rabies is super bad news for dogs? I’m completely aghast at her stupefying selfishness and idiocy.
Well, at least she’s done the decent thing now and tried to get herself a bit immune.
A bit late in the day if you ask me.
Typical.
Prague
Offspring #4 is doing some sort of complicated scientific presentation in Prague this month. Prague looks nice.
D’ya reckon Mum might take me there one day?
Nope, I expect you’re right.
As above …. stupefying selfishness.
Guilty Pleasures
This weekend, I watched the final of Eurovision with Mum and offspring #3. You can tell I’m simply enthralled.
Graham Norton was hilarious – as usual.
Ukraine won (absolutely the right result) and UK’s Sam Ryder came in 2nd (what a lovely and talented man). Apparently members of the Ukraine group had been in the streets fighting the Russian invasion a few weeks before their performance.
Wow.
That really does put a whole lot of stuff into perspective doesn’t it?
Saffron’s recommendations this month:
Music:
Stefania – Kaluch Orchestra (Eurovision winner)
Space Man – Sam Ryder (2nd place Eurovision – of course) Fab job Sam.
Just for funsy this month, a mixture of great tracks. No, no, no – thank YOU. Please enjoy.
Wake Up Boo – The Boo Radleys (happy, happy, happy)
The Whole of the Moon – The Waterboys (such a great song)
Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) – Train (just amazing – check out the lyrics)
Giant – Calvin Harris & Rag ‘n’ Bone Man
Unstoppable – Sia
Roar – Katy Perry
Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepson
You’re the Best Thing – The Style Council
Cowboys and Angels – George Michael
Pumping on your Stereo – Supergrass (just a great driving beat 😊 you’ll need this REALLY loud)
Precious Love – James Morrison … and as featured in Schitt$ Creek (Netflix). A Canadian sitcom, the series follows a formerly wealthy family as they cope (or not) after losing their fortune and having to relocate to a town called Schitts Creek, which they once bought on a whim and as a joke. It’s better than I’m making it sound! Lots of wry smiles ….. the main characters are just awful, awful people. Or are they…??
Reading: Culture and Anarchy; An essay in Political and Social Criticism – Matthew Arnold, 1869
According to Robert McCrum (The Guardian – see link below for a good summary – if you’re interested!) Arnold caught the public mood with this high-minded but entertaining critique of Victorian society, posing questions about the art of civilised living that still perplex us today. Arnold was a poet and cultural critic and he effectively adapted the German word Philister to English as the word philistine to denote anti-intellectualism.
A Signature Sentence
“But, finally, perfection, – as culture, from a thorough disinterested study of human nature and human experience learns to conceive it, – is a harmonious expansion of all the powers which make the beauty and worth of human nature, and is not consistent with the over-development of any one power at the expense of the rest.”
Mum’s not really that good with poetry – she reckons she’s better with song lyrics (some of them anyway). Still, she likes this. Evocative. It’s apparently quite well known. Some good words like ‘tremulous cadence’ and ‘darkling’. Also by Matthew Arnold 1867.
Dover Beach
The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! You hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back and fling
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long withdrawing roar,
Retreating to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
Film: – Dr Strange, The Lost City, Top Gun (Maverick)
For a change, these are films that Mum has seen at the cinema this month.
Mum has been to see Benedict Cumberbatch strut his stuff in Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Let’s face it, Mum does love a bit of Marvel. And BC is always pretty reliable. Not as good as the first Dr Strange movie (methinks) but a nice bit of pure escapism for an hour or so… Music by the legendary Danny Elfman, so no complaints there of course. (Make sure you stay to the very, very, very end of the credits tho’) 😉
The Lost City – Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Brad Pitt in what turns out to be quite a funny and at times laugh out loud film. Mum and offspring #3 went to see this. It won’t keep you up at night but it’s surprisingly OK. A bit of fun.
and oh…. Top Gun (Maverick). OMG just amazing. If you’re a TG fan, then this will knock your socks off. Decent soundtrack too. Just watch it. That’s an order…. 😊