I uploaded my first electronic postcard to my Facebook page in May 2013; the second and third followed, but it was not until PC 17 that I started publishing them at fortnightly intervals on WordPress. If you are still happy to glance at, speed read, or absorb more slowly with a cup of tea, coffee or something stronger, my now-weekly musings, thank you and congratulations for your perseverance. For those of you who hadn’t realised it, the fortnightly postcard, now labelled a blog perhaps, became a weekly offering in 2020, to counteract the loneliness some experienced during the two COVID-enforced lockdowns. And like a lot of habits people started during Covid, they’ve continued, these scribbles of mine, posted on a Friday, regularly as clockwork.
The beach at Bahia
That first postcard was about Bahia; the State of Bahia is north of Rio de Janeiro and its capital is Salvador. We spent a week on its coast, a tropical paradise of enduring calmness. The first ‘milestone’, PC 50, posted on 21st September 2015, was entitled ‘One Person’s Party can be Another Person’s Nightmare’; the polar opposite of Bahia, it concerned a party next door to Celina’s parents’ house in Iposeria, São Conrado, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. The music’s noise level made the windows in her house rattle and, after silently enduring it for a while, for speech was impossible, we decamped to the Sheraton Hotel.
Francisquinha (PCs 172 and 217) looked over my shoulder; ‘Tell them about my passport! Tell them about my passport!’ she demanded; she repeats herself when she’s animated.
The 100th PC was posted in July 2017 and PC 150 in April 2019. The latter concerned two local enterprises, Dean’s ‘Fruit & Veg stall’ at the top of pedestrianised George Street and D Jones’ ‘Watchmaker & Jewellers’ around the corner in Blatchington Road, here in Hove. PC 300 was posted on 16th of September 2022, just after the State Funeral of the late Queen, Elisabeth II and PC 350 (1st September 2023) covered the coronation of the new King, Charles. After PC 400 (16th August 2024) I added PC 400a, a catalogue of those first 400.
PC 401 ‘The Hope Café via WhatsApp’ was posted on WordPress, on Facebook and on LinkedIn on 23rd August 2024. Conversations with Sami and Mo covered the Paris Olympics, DSD (Note 1), my middle grandson moving to Secondary School and my step-granddaughter moving to Dubai to teach. PC 403 ‘Idle Thoughts about This and That’ (September 2024) mentioned that I had had to apply for a new passport, so thought I could apply for one for Francisquinha. Both arrived back in the same envelope, although hers is slightly bigger than mine!
‘Is that my passport?’ She asked. ‘Wow! ….. I must be important.’ Then she showed me a photo of her in a suite in the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore in 2019.
Celina and I are lucky enough to be able to travel, so it seemed right that Ms Francisquinha had her own passport, photograph and all. What’s been interesting is the reaction of the various passport control officials, when she presents it for a stamp. Obviously, these Government Civil Servants, wherever we’ve arrived, have an important role to play, making sure everyone has the correct documentation; a sense of humour is not part of the job description. In Portugal she is generally viewed very suspiciously, despite her putting on her most charming face. ‘Blood, sweat and tears’ are needed for a stamp to be added. Whereas in Brazil, they’ve laughed and drawn colleagues’ attention to her passport.
Generally, when we arrive back in London Gatwick, Celina and I head for the E-Gates, avoiding the inevitable queue. However, on one occasion there was no queue whatsoever …… so I headed for one of the kiosks. Presenting my own passport, I showed Francisquinha’s to the female officer and asked whether she could stamp it. This was clearly considered so serious a matter that two armed policemen came over to see if there was a problem. The stamp came with a disclaimer: ‘On Request’! I often wonder what was going through her mind, this Border Force official, having to justify by writing ‘on request’ why she had stamped the passport of a fluffy grey rabbit.
We had a laugh, Francisquinha and I.
So, what are the stand-out memories you have of the last twelve months, from 3rd September 2024 to 1st August 2025?
It really doesn’t matter whether you voted for the 47th President of the United States or not, the world is trying to deal with, adapt to, and accept that the current incumbent of the Oval Office is like no other. One thing I thank him for is forcing the European members of NATO to recognise their defence is their responsibility and that they should pay more for it.
Giles Coran in his column in The Times, wondered why he had bothered during his life to eat sensibly, take exercise and watch his weight to stay healthy, as the news story of the last twelve months is undoubtably the exponential use of weight-loss injections like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro. I can understand the attraction, but the jury is still out as to their effects on your body when you’re taking it, and the lasting effects on your vital organs. Personally, unless you’re morbidly obese, I do not think this is the way forward.
In the UK the Post Office and Blood Infection scandals dribble on; the longer they continue, the more Joe & Joanna Public will be disenchanted with politicians whatever their colour. I watched the funeral of the late Pope Francis and subsequent election of the new Pope, all the time thinking of the great book Conclave by Robert Harris.
And in 50 weeks’ time, when I post my 500th PC, I suspect the stand-out news story will be the speed of our climate change.
Richard 1st August 2025
Hove
Note 1 DSD is an abbreviation for ‘Difference of Sexual Development’.
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