Yesterday would have been the 115th birthday of my mother but she did live to the ripe old age of 95. It is interesting that we never forget the date of our mother’s birthday as I suppose we learnt this as a young chid and then never ever forget it. For this reason, software developers might ask you to specify the date of your mother’s birthday as one of a set of questions as a clue to unlocking your password should you forget it. Last night, I went out as usual just before 7.00pm to meet up with my American friend and whilst we were strolling around, my friend swore that she saw a parrot. As it turned out in further conversations with dog walkers, my friend had indeed seen a parrot which we discovered to be a macaw. These birds can live up the age of 50 or even longer if kept as pets and are very intelligent, even managing a few words of mimicking English speech. As we advanced on our walk we stopped to stare in some wonderment as the macaw was evidently being exercised by its owner and would make a number of soaring circles before coming to alight on the owner’s shoulder. We only know it to be a macaw because some of the other dog walkers had witnessed the same bird exercising and had evidently got some of the inside story. My friend and I always find that at this time of night, apart from the runners and trainers, many people are prepared to stop for a chat (usually on the origins of their dogs which is always a conversation opener) and I remarked to my friend that this would be a good training for the early evening ‘paseo’ which no doubt she and I will undertake when we are holidaying in La Coruña next February. I have informed one Spanish friend but not the other as yet as I only received the final confirmation of our flight details the day before. We have a particular event to which to look forward on Wednesday and this an almost total eclipse of the sun, starting at about 6.00pm and as its maximum at about 7.00pm. In Cornwall, some viewers may experience about 96% of the totality of the eclipse but it will be about 90% elsewhere. My friend in Northern Spain should experience 100% of the eclipse and we ourselves will not experience another total eclipse of the sun until about 1990 so we had better make the most of it. The media is full of advice concerning not viewing the eclipse except with special eclipse glasses (which Amazon are selling for about £7 for a pack of 2) For most of the population, though, it is either a case of constructing one’s own ‘pin-hole’ camera of of viewing the whole event on the TV which might actually be the safest thing to do. If Wednesday is to be a cloudy day, then this will spoil the effect for millions of us. Apart from the eclipse, I have a ‘Curry Club’ to which to look forward on Tuesday evening and I have SatNaved all of the details as it is to be in a restaurant in a nearby village about a 20 minute drive from Bromsgrove. The enjoyment of these events though is highly dependent upon the table talk of one’s nearest dinner companions so I generally approach these events with some mixed feelings.
My normal Sunday morning was attenuated this week for a couple of reasons. The parochial church hall in which we normally enjoy a cup of tea and a chat was closed for its annual refurbishment so after the service, I shot off to collect my newspaper. But the car washing facility that I normally use each Sunday was closed, no doubt as a sensible precaution in these drought-stricken conditions but the Sunday supermarkets were yet to open by 10.00am. So I came home, made myself a cooked breakfast of poached eggs on rice cakes and then scurried out in the car to pick up some ice cream as I had practically ran out at home. When I retuned, I tuned into the last 40 minutes of the ‘Pilgrimage’ programme which I generally enjoy on a Sunday morning even though I have seen all of them at lest twice before. The formula is nearly always the same as they collect together some minor celebrities and generally manage to put together a Catholic, an Anglican, a non-Conformist, perhaps a Jew and a Muslim and a follower of an Asian religion such as Jain and an agnostic or two. Then the ‘pilgrimage’ is both a physical journey along well known pilgrimage routes (this one being North Wales ending up on Bardsey Island) but also a spiritual/emotional one. The pilgrims chat along the way and nobody tries to convey anyone else but they do mutually discover what they believe and how it has influenced their lives. Towards the end of this pilgrimage, the pilgrims call in an ancient chapel dedicated to an Anglo Saxon saint dating from the fifth century. There they participate in a local tradition for pilgrims which is to find a smooth stone of which there is a plentiful supply on the nearby beach. Then they dedicate the stone to a loved one or write a message upon it. Then holding their stones, the group is blessed by the minister and then the stones are solemnly added to the pile at the entrance at the ent rance to the church. Each year, the stones are gathered up and returned to the sea where they will be gradually washed away. The symbolism here is immense and it moved many of the pilgrims to tears (including the male Muslim, remembering his mother). Afterwards, a sense of release and fulfilment sweeps over the group and although the weather conditions were such that the crossing to Bardsey island would have been too dangerous, nonetheless the pilgrims all felt that the ‘ceremony of the stones’ was a fitting end to their long journey. After this TV viewing, I have two more treats in store. My American friend and I cook a Sunday lunch together and this is always a good idea because cooking for two means that you can try something a little more adventurous than merely cooking for one. Later, we are going to indulge ourselves in a viewing of J B Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls‘ (incidentally, a favourite amongst amateur dramatic societies) which I know is readily accessible on the BBC iPlayer and will be a highlight of our Sunday evening viewing.