Solstice

@EnglishHeritage

I considered jumping upon my new helicopter and hovering about Wiltshire for a while, to see in the Winter Solstice this morning.  There were of course problems with this, for a start I was not awake early enough, the weather was dreich, and I do not possess a new, or indeed an old, helicopter.  All those are owned by one Rishi Sunak whoever he was.  

Another objection to travelling all that way was the people that I would meet there.  Those who pretend they are druids, though nobody has any idea what druids really were like.  It was Julius Caesar and Tacitus who have left us the best descriptions, and there are problems with both.  The Romans thus tended to see them as human sacrificing weirdo's while the Greeks limited information preferred to see the druids as some sort of wise man.  Today many think of the druid in Asterix the Gaul as a real individual, or someone out of a Harry Potter story.  This morning will have seen many dressed in white pretending they are druids, some belonging to druid societies, and others jumping on the bandwagon.

@EnglishHeritage

Thousands turned up for the chilly start to the day, wrapped up warm and far from the car park.  English Heritage car parks will have enjoyed today I think.  The sight of half naked men doing yoga on the grass in the middle of the stones may appeal to some of course, while many enjoy the fact that from now on the nights get shorter and the days longer, others are actually worshipping the sun.  Most are not doing this, just being face painted in modern woad, enjoying the gathering and the freaks, and the event.  Some clearly have found a new faith, though what is it and will it take them through the day?  Well no, only Jesus can do this, but the majority of the tinkering classes there will return to a nice warm house and not a wooden round house that used to be home to real druids, the cold removed by warm cooked breakfast and gin and tonic.  Possibly the best part of the morning.

The Landlord, a decent sort, sent a Christmas greeting, "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,"  By the way the latest rental act means contracts require amending and rents may go up.  Or you are out on your ear in March.

Nice greetings I thought.

I will look into it later but the fact is I willingly pay higher rent to stay here, I like it.  Also, my rent has not gone up for years, so I am not in a position to grumble, they have always been good to me.

Solstice Again

 

 A local Tavern

 

Yes it's the winter solstice once again.  The time of year to celebrate the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter.  The good thing is that with global warming we will be sunning ourselves this winter, according to those scientists who inform us of the melting ice caps and the movement of the Jet Stream.  Of course this means we may drown as the seas rise up, the land becomes overcrowded, crops cannot grow and the rich grab all they can to themselves.  So not much change then?  But at least we will freeze in a warmer cold snap.

At least the days now get longer, which means the fog/mist/cloud that covers the land will arrive a bit earlier than normal.  Oh goody!  It does mean that with the solstice, Christmas, New Year over we can all look forward to Spring, which will arrive in due course, stuttering into view with added snowstorms as usual.  

It is no wonder people celebrate the solstice.  Way back before your grandmother was born man knew the times of the year, but did not know how to work a laptop and write this down for us.  Instead he built Stonehenge like creations to watch the sun come up or go down.  His maths was wonderful even if he could not spell.  How people must have looked forward to the end of the winter season, especially if they were living around the time of glaciers arriving in Essex.  They say the road I am living on, indeed this side of the street, had a ramp of earth all the way along to the corner, which once was considered a defensive structure but in fact was caused by the ice age stopping right here under my desk.  That explains why it gets so cold in here.

Hunters and gatherers would understand well the seasons.  They knew where to find fruits and various edibles and when they would be appearing.  Healthy organic feeding was the order off the day, of course they were dead by the time they were thirty!  Later the first farmers must have rejoiced as the seasons turned.  They would look forward to the joys of ploughing, seeding, and resting before the harvest.  Today we know nothing of hard work in comparison to farmers of old.  Vast farm fields, vast machines, and vast companies do not offer a romantic view of farming today, though after Brexit farming is now a dead duck in the UK.  

The turn of the year always brought a chance to get together with friends.  In the far past tribes from many areas would congregate together, eat, drink, and be merry and ensure the marriages between tribes could occur.  In England the 12 days of Christmas were one of the only holidays available to people.  Occasional Holy Days occurrred but most just got plastered at the Christmas Celebration.  How much of Christ was in this can be guessed.  One theory is that some Christians brought in Christmas, the 'Christ Mass,' and worked out the date of December 25th as Jesus birthday (Based on the assumption (see what I did there?) that Mary conceived on March 25th) and 9 months later it was Dec 25th.  Hmmm...   

Anyway, the Reformation in Scotland ended that in the north.  No mention of Christmas in scripture, so it was dropped, though he obviously arrived as both Matthew and Luke mention this event.  England however, continued their debauchery for the 12 days and more for many years.  It has not ended as yet around this area as far as I can see, and No 10 Downing Street not only continues the pleasuring but repeats it over and over, no matter what Covid is doing to the public outside, and then deny this.   

Scotland of course forgot about Christmas but managed to enjoy the New Year, and the Kirk did not appear to notice, and since 1956, or was it 1958, Christmas and New Year have been an excuse for drunken, rowdy, behaviour as if they needed an excuse!

My Puritan Christmas will be less exciting, and as we face a type of LockDown immediately after Christmas life will not change a great deal for a while.  The latest bug has worried Boris, though to be honest there is a growing thought that this time he really is on the way out.  I wonder what rabbit he can pull out of this hat?  Consider this for Christmas, if he goes, we may have Liz Truss as Prime Minister soon.

Pray!

 

 

Winter Solstice and Closed Ports

BBC

 

At last the 'shortest day!'

Naturally it is wet, chilly, dank, dreich and not improving the well-being of those venturing out to what few shops remain open in Tier 4 Land.  Cars splash along the street, people take great steps to avoid one another as well as the cars heading for large puddles, and blessings abound with the short-term employed in the checkouts. 

Such a happy day for from tomorrow the nights get shorter the days longer and Spring is just around the corner.  Sunshine, blue skies, bright days and lockdown for all!  

And Brexit poverty on top for us all!

I just canny wait for that...

 

 

It is interesting to see how many nations are no longer wishing to accept travellers from the 'English Free State.'  I read that 40 or so countries have banned contact, France has closed the Dover crossing, and the only ones to fly out are the Tory Brexiteer cheerleaders who have ceased claiming the virus is a hoax and the vaccine does not work for a week or two having escaped to their money in the Cayman Islands or somewhere.  I am sure they will not be missed but I feel for the servants they look down upon in foreign lands.

This is a taste of Brexit to come.  With inadequate customs staff, computer systems not ready, lack of knowledge of paperwork required, hundreds of miles of lorries carrying decaying foodstuffs one way or the other, and overworked and short staffed employees attempting to counter the virus while at work it looks like a jolly old Christmas at the ports.  

I empathise with companies that still do not understand what to do.  Information is lacking because nobody knows what to do anywhere.  Thousands of pieces of paper required to export, but what papers?  Will the customs know any better?  What will the French understand?  

My nephew is glad he no longer drives big lorries, though he never went abroad.  It is a hard life on the road, especially if you only speak Romanian!

 

Friday Fussing

The idea that the drone flying above Gatwick was a government sponsored scam to take peoples minds of the House closing down for Christmas while the Brexit disaster looms above keeps coming to mind.  The 'eco-warrior' the police claim they are looking for may well be a member of her majesties forces following orders, or is it just me?  I am tempted to think that if this drone was a nuisance it would be easy enough to bring in an army 'Apache' helicopter, many of them pass over us here, and I am convinced these guys would quickly and efficiently dispose of the bad by, this was not done you will note.  If it is ISIS or one of their followers you would expect it to drop bombs and they to make a claim of some sort by now, they have not done this.  It could indeed be a middle class 'eco-warrior' playing games and thinking himself clever no matter how distraught those who lose vast sums of money or miss out on Christmas trips abroad suffer.  Protest that causes such problems is not to aid the people it is merely to make a name for the drone pilot.  I wonder if hanging him upside down from lampposts is legal...?

  
It looks a lot like sausages for Xmas dinner this year.  I went to the proper butcher in town and obtain £15 worth and am about to put some in the freezer.  The idea is that these expensive sausages will contain meat, taste hopefully added to them also.  On Monday I will visit the shops again for the last bits.  I mean we have one day where all shops close and if I don't stock up I will starve like so many other people appear to be afraid of doing at the moment.  Maybe I ought to buy yet another dozen bottles of beer just in case I have a visitor...

While looking at this tree through tired eyes I could see a face in there, can you?
I am wondering whether to send it to the 'Daily Mail' and see if the new editor will print this?  He has been trying to take his readers minds of his support for remain' by filling the paper with royal or celeb clickbait, the girls and Beckham appearing to be among his favourites, or he thinks his readerships favourites.  It seems to be working.  The fascist fraternity are gnashing their teeth at him while threatening all and sundry, the royal followers are revealing their dark hearts and in many a sad longing for a dead princess which calls them to hate people whom they do not know of whom some are jealous and others just inadequate.  It's all very depressing really. 

The shortest day is upon us.  Spring will be around the corner from tomorrow, weather permitting.  The nights will get shorter, the sun be seen more often and life will be brighter for us all, hopefully.

Winter Solstice

At long last the winter solstice is upon us.  It seems like six months since the last solstice.  At last it has arrived and from now on we look forward to Spring!  Ah Spring, that favourite time of year when lambs go a-leaping, little flowers erupt throughout the countryside, blue skies and warm sun appear in the sky in between the rain storms and all around see the world in a better light.  Or is that see the world in day light?  
For now we suffer winter itself.  Indeed Winter begins today, in spite of what has gone on since late October, and we know that storms, all given stupid childish names for no good reason, will lash the coasts and send rain from the Atlantic on our heads.  Snow that awful substance will fall making the roads and pavements slippery, blinding travellers, freezing our hands and feet, causing accidents to man and beast, plus cars of course, and no doubt allow kids to throw snowballs at their betters, or folks like me.  Ban snow, I would vote 'Brexit' if they promised to keep it away and bring sunshine instead.
The darkness arrived as I returned from buying another new bell for the door.  The last one rang with such a resounding ring I could not hear it while standing next to it.  Resounding?  I hit it and it doesn't resound.  Bah!  This one might be better but I suspect it too will be quiet, possibly some PC lout has ensured bells must not ring loudly in case someone is offended?  We will see, eventually.  The darkness arrived but had not really gone away, cloud covering the land all day.  Dreich and yuck all day, a bit like me I suggest.

Just how dark can it get around here...?

I am spending much time listening to the Classical music resounding properly on Radio 3.  Even R3 lightens up at this time and the Christmas around Europe music is good.  I suspect if I was one of the millions travelling around in these Xmas days I expect I would be desperate to listen to such as this while on a crowded train, bus, platform.  The joys of train travel are a delight but not when crowded. One screaming child, two women nattering loudly about nothing, a drunk, a long wait for no reason in the middle of nowhere, all these make folks wonder why they travel at this time.
O course Christmas ought to be in March rather than December, and not just because the shops are crowded.  I am sure Jesus entered the world at the end of that month rather than December.  Of course life begins at conceptions so possibly July would be a better time?  It would be warmer then even if  some wished to go on holiday at that time.  
This would mean rewriting Carols of course, 'In the bleak midwinter' would become 'In the much to hot for us summer' and 'Silent Night' might become 'Turn the noise down!'  The landing in a manger, where hay was dumped as donkey feed, would not change.  Jesus taking the lowest place never ends, and for us too!

  

The Best Day of the Year!

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Time & Date

Today is my favourite day of the year! That is because today is the shortest day off the year and from this moment on the nights grow shorter and the days grow longer. How good is that! Quite how folks cope in those parts of Scandinavia that suffer six months of darkness I do not really understand. Depression and alcohol abuse is widely reported, and no wonder! It is bad enough wandering about wearing a hat with horns sticking out of it (something the Vikings never did) but to do this in  the dark must be wearing I'd say. The six months of never ending daylight would be a wow however and must make for a more tranquil mind. Yeah, okay it didn't do much for the Vikings but they were worried about being unable to plant crops in their hard ground and that sort of thing upsets a farmer doesn't it? Just imagine it, sunlight all day and everyday! Wonderful! This would lighten the mind, remove depressions and enable even the worst farmer to dig his cabbages out of the ground! 


Time and Date explain in simple terms, which my readers require, why the solstice occurs. The tilting of the earth, the sun moving around to annoy us, especially me, and such like. Very interesting indeed. Naturally many of the trendies will be hanging around places like Stonehenge, if the snow allows them through, to pretend they care about this. Large groups of ageing hippy's (or is that hippies?), gray haired middle class women desperate to fill the empty gap in their life, 'Guardian' readers believing they are holding back global warming and making a real impact on the earth will be everywhere wasting their time at dawn this morning gathering mistletoe with golden scythes and murmuring prayers to the pagan gods and suffering frostbite for their pains.  


It says something about the human condition that we seek solace in that which is beyond us, something greater than 'Sickly Come Dancing,' or another of Simon Cowell's money making schemes (no jealousy here!).  Events around us like earthquakes and eclipses would worry men of old, but with today's supposedly educated people we still find ourselves asking questions. Some use them for their esoteric purposes  (I used to know 'eric' quite well) and others take a more sanguine approach, "Pass the brandy luv." Only the existence of God can answer such questions, but even at Christmas folks look in the wrong place. Whatever I, unlike my niece, who is well old enough to know better,  I did not rise at dawn to watch the red eclipse this morning, oh no. I remained lost in my dream world under the somewhat ageing army ex-blankets as per usual. It is the days I like not nights, sunshine, blue skies and warmth. When I win the lottery that is what I will acquire, by moving to Cyprus or Malta or some such place. I doubt they suffer much from dark nights.  


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