I love familiar places as much as I love the adventure of travelling somewhere new; something reassuring that there is continuity of activity even if you yourself are absent. I hadn’t made it to The Hope Café since we got back from Estoril, so it was a little potluck as to who was there on Tuesday afternoon. ‘Ah!’ I thought, ‘Josh has gone back to Israel’, as he was not behind the counter and the candle was back, a testament that our thoughts go with him. Despite him being wounded when he was last with the IDF (see PCs 361, 368 and 378), he recovered very quickly and there was a lasting legacy of action, of tension, of excitement; no wonder he’s gone back. I imagine he’ll be used in some support role.

A quick scan of the occupied tables and I recognise Sami, Anna and Robert. The latter has his head down into his laptop on the window counter, hopefully being creative, so I decide not to disturb him.  

Sami looks up. “You look as though you’ve a lot on your mind, Richard!”

“Hi! Sami. How are you? Sorry! Am I wearing some underlying tension on my face?”

“Yes. Not usual for you; you’re normally fairly laid back, unstressed, calm. Where were you yesterday? Had hoped to see you.”

“A very good chum of mine, a Canadian called Bill Pender, had died of cancer. Never one to make a fuss, he didn’t want the mawkishness of a funeral, rather a ‘Celebration of (his) Life’. That was yesterday in Salisbury; he had a very good turnout, despite the weather, and good to exchange memories of Bill with others. But the slight stressful look? Actually, it’s not about me but my daughter and her family. They are buying her grandmother’s house and frankly it reminds me of that film with Tom Hanks and someone ……”

“The Money Pit? With Shelley Long ……”

“Exactly. This is a house that’s been allowed to become decrepit through lack of maintenance, doesn’t have a kitchen or working bathroom, has a hole in the roof but with lots of TLC could be a wonderful family home for her, Sam and their three boys.”

“So why are you looking so concerned, it’s not you buying it?”

“For all sorts of reasons, they exchanged on the house without exchanging on their own ….. although their purchaser says he’s firmly committed to buying it!”

“Woah! Now that’s risky but ….”

“Funny how purchasing a house, possibly the most expensive item you will ever own, is never straight forward and one of those four ‘most stressful things in life’; divorce being another! But, Sami, you became bankrupt after the Post Office wrongly accused you of fraud ….. and you lost your home.”

“Indeed. I lost everything and went back to square one. The Post Office eventually made an acceptable compensation offer and Lisa and I have found somewhere together down here in Hove. She’ll keep her house in Folding-over-Sheet and enjoy the rental income. Did you personally do something so risky as your daughter?”

“No, although her situation has brought back some memories of house purchases. I bought my first for £29,500 and four years later my second, which we couldn’t afford but you kid yourself somehow you will. Fortunately I was never in a negative-equity situation with a large mortgage! A decade or two later I bought a terraced house in Battersea and, after we’d exchanged, someone offered an extra £10,000. I had written to the owner to say how much I was going to love living in her house, la-di-dah-di-dah, and she turned down the bigger offer (phew!). And I almost lost our large apartment in Amber House here in Hove …..

“It is big, isn’t it Richard. I remember when Lisa and I came to supper (See PCs 329 and 330) we were in love with the tall ceilings and gorgeous proportions.”

“….. as my now ex wouldn’t commit to somewhere for herself. We exchanged three days before it was to go back on the open market! Seems a long time ago! I noticed the candle’s back up on the counter. You surprised Josh has gone back?”

“No, not really. He’s young and he got so fired up the last time. I feel sorry for Luke, left behind and always going to dread an unexpected telephone call. Libby said they have bought a dog, a Norfolk Terrier, to keep Luke busy!”

“Great idea! Hey! Listen. Must go and speak to Anna. (See PCs 358 and 365). Been good to catch up; love to Lisa and see you anon.”

And with that, and a squeeze of my hand on his shoulder, I got up and moved across to Anna. I don’t know her at all well but had noticed she’d been away during the Paralympics in Paris (28 Aug – 8 Sep).

“Hi! Anna. Hadn’t seen you and assumed you’d gone to Paris. Were you competing or simply in some support role?”

“I didn’t make the wheelchair basketball team as here in the UK we have too many extraordinarily gifted players, but I went to the Bercy Arena to support them. The Netherlands won gold, the USA silver and China bronze; we came fifth, although I am pleased our men’s team won silver.”

“You’ll try for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028?”

“I’ll see! Working full time restricts the amount of time I can dedicate to training …… and you need to be extremely dedicated! Listen, need to finish this report but good to see you.”

On my way out, I pass by Sami’s table. “Forgot to say, Sami, I’ve shrunk!”

“Sorry?”

“I have always been 6ft 2̋ which equates to 187cms. In a recent medical, I confidently replied ‘187’ to the obvious question, to be told that I was now 183. I’ve lost four centimetres Sami! Where did they go?”

“Where indeed …….”

Richard 4^th October 2024

Hove

http://www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

If you walk down a pavement in any town after overnight rain, you’ve probably noticed a snail or three, making their way slowly across the paving stones. Sadly some get crushed by people’s shoes and a gooey mess and broken shell are all that remains. But I don’t think anyone does this on purpose, extinguishing life just for the hell of it. I certainly don’t, carefully side-stepping the little creature and wondering what urges it to travel in a certain direction. And if you ever wondered, on the ends of a snail’s tentacles are its eyes, which can’t focus or see colour but can discern different intensities of light, helping it to navigate towards dark places.

When I put my small gardening hat on, it’s a different matter.

I love the Hosta, a large-leaved plant that produces white flowers around July time. In the winter months it hibernates under the soil, then in the spring little shoots appear and the cycle begins all over again.

Snails love Hostas! Not wishing to use pesticides, I have tried a number of different things to discourage them from eating my plants. Placing the pot in water sort of works for small pots, as snails are not good swimmers, but that’s impractical for a large pot of Hostas. I read that applying some grease around the rim of the pot creates an uncrossable boundary; it works for a week or so then the little buggers wade through it or jump it or …… I bought a roll of copper tape, well, three actually as it was on offer, and stuck it in a thick band around the top, having first got rid of any grease! The pot looks nice with a copper-coloured band around it but, contrary to the advertising blurb, the snails still got across.

Now I have resigned myself to thinking I grow Hostas as a food for snails.

I love watching them slide across the grass, I hate them munching through my juicy Hosta leaves, and I loved eating them, although I haven’t for over 15 years as my tastes have changed. You used to be able to buy them in little plastic tubes, complete with garlic butter and parsley; pop them into the oven for the requisite number of minutes and ….. yum! yum! …. But you have to like garlic.

The Portuguese eat an estimated 4000 tonnes of Caracóis a year. Some are of the tiny variety, usually about 1cm in diameter. Cooked in a broth with lots of Rosemary and not swimming in melted garlic butter, normally you’re presented with about 100 in a small bowl and enjoy them with a cold beer. Or if you visit a cheap tasca bar they come as grilled appetizers. Helix Pomatia is often referred to as the land lobster for its superior flavour and texture. The French eat about 25,000 tonnes of snails a year; about 6.5 per person per year, normally cooked in garlic butter or chicken stock. I remember whenever I sailed across the English Chanel to Cherbourg, supper was at a bistro that specialised in snails and mussels; it could have been called Madame Escargot?

In Britain snails are available in supermarkets or delicatessens but I am reminded how on The Continent you can buy live ones. Many years ago I was on holiday with my daughter near Estepona in southern Spain, staying with cousin Susie and husband Robin. Tasked with foraging for things for lunch, we went to the local market. Jade, aged 8, saw a large cardboard box and sensed it was moving. Closer inspection revealed it was full of live snails. After the screams and tears subsided, she was placated with buying a dozen ….. which she set free in Susie’s garden; we didn’t tell Susie!

Used to small snails, I saw a photograph of a giant one. It turns out to be the Giant African land snail (Lissachatina fulica) which can weigh nearly a kilo and whose shell is some 20cms long. Celina tells me they also live in Brazil.

Sadly it really is a pest; it feeds voraciously and causes severe damage to agricultural crops and native plants.

In my postcards from our time in Croatia this summer (PCs 390 & 391 Tales of Croatia) I wrote that our guide in the seaside town of Split was a very tall chap called Pero Ugarković and he’d written a book about the sea snail. Sea snails breathe with gills whereas land snails with lungs. There is another type, the freshwater snail which use either gills or lungs.

I think we could call snails nomads for they take their home with them! The shell is created from calcium carbonate and has a protein outer coating. Other creatures consume the shells to obtain the nutrient calcium. There’s something very practical and endearing about carrying your home with you, self-contained and all that, and snails often feature in stories written for children.  

“Soon, which in cosmic time means millions and millions of years, they crawled out of the ocean and onto the land. Not knowing whether they would find a home, some of these brave early explorers carried their homes on their backs. So snails took to the earth!” extracted from ‘The Snail with the Right Heart: a True Story’ by Maria Popova     

Still wondering why I have titled this postcard ‘… aka Brian’? In 1965 the BBC bought a French children’s programme ‘Le Manège Enchanté’, created by Serge Danot, and used the footage with new English-language scripts unrelated to the original story lines to produce ‘The Magic Roundabout’. It proved a great success and achieved cult status. Its characters included Dougal, a drop-eared variety of a Skye Terrier, Zebedee, a talking jack-in-a-box who kept crying “time for bed”, Ermintrude the cow, Dylan a hippy rabbit and a cheerful, bashful and intelligent snail called ……. Brian. (Note 2)

Richard 27^th September 2024

Hove
www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 There are three main species of helix snails that are edible: Roman or Burgandy snails (Helix Pomatia), Garden snails (Helix Aspersa and the European Snail (Helix Lucorum)

Note 2 Who knows why the writers called the snail Brian. But if you’re called Brian, I hope you’re cheerful, bashful and intelligent!

Towards the end of last year, I decided I needed a couple of medical referrals (see PC 366 Medical Decluttering December 2023) and the quickest way was to see a private doctor. Fortunately, Celina has a good one, one whose opinion and professionalism she values, so I fixed myself an appointment. After some 50 minutes of inspection and chat, I left with three, not two, referrals and a personal endorsement as to his efficacy. Wind the clock forward six months and it occurs to me it would be nice to have the doctor and his wife to supper one evening in the autumn. Not sure of the modern etiquette, I email him at his practice, tentatively outlining my thoughts, looking for agreement before trying to pin him down to a date.

His reply was disappointing, wishing to maintain the boundaries of the doctor-patient relationship, so declining. I think this is a rather sad reflection on modern life, for as a teenager I remember the local doctor, an Ivor Haire, coming to supper with my parents when they lived in the village of Balcombe, some twenty miles north of Brighton. And some of the individuals who went through my coaching sessions became good friends and sometimes came to supper. There was of course an implicit understanding that what had been discussed in the coaching sessions stayed there. It gave a little more colour to my life and I had rather hoped that Celina’s doctor could have accepted the invitation.

I am lucky enough to be the current guardian of an oil painting of my great great grandmother. Sarah Fosbery (née Smith) was born in 1822, aged 17 married Francis Fosbery in Adare Ireland (see PC 127 I Went Looking For a Family Seat – September 2022), delivered nine daughters and died, presumably exhausted, in 1861 aged 39. Her 8^th daughter, Eva Constance Fosbery, emigrated with seven of her siblings to New Zealand. (see PC 169 Shifting Sands and PC 170 100% New Zealand January 2020). Varnish yellows with age so it needed a clean, which was professionally carried out by Stig Evans here in Brighton. Those of us lucky enough to own these historical heirlooms have a responsibility to keep them in good shape.

In Portugal I finished Simon Winchester’s book ‘Atlantic’, chock full of information and well researched. I was so taken by Simon making a fascinating link between problems in Britain during World War One and the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 that I thought I could share it. Stay with this story, even if it’s a little convoluted! Back in 1915 there was a shortage of cordite, a smokeless explosive, for shells that were used to attack surfaced German submarines. For the non-chemists, cordite is made from a mixture of nitro-glycerine, guncotton, acetone and petroleum jelly; it was the acetone that was in short supply. CP Scott, the editor of the Manchester Guardian, by chance had lunch with a White Russian émigré and science professor at the University of Manchester in early summer of 1916; his name was Chaim Weizmann. Sometime during the main course Weizmann said he had developed a new bacterial method for producing acetone.

Scott told his friend David Lloyd George, then Minister of Munitions and soon to be Prime Minister, about Weizmann and the latter was invited to London. Within a few weeks, Weizmann had an industrial space to start production, but needed a ready supply of cellulose, found in maize and surprisingly in chestnuts. Horse chestnuts are normally used by schoolboys (Note 1) for the very traditional game of ‘conkers’, but in the autumn of 1916 thousands of tons were brought to the factory and, after various chemical reactions, acetone was produced in sufficient quantities. Eventually the Royal Navy destroyed enough German submarines in surface engagements to tip the balance in Britain’s favour. Such a good story, but how does this relate to Israel you might well ask?

Prime Minister Lloyd George asked his foreign secretary, a chap by the name of Arthur Balfour, to suggest an honour for Weizmann, who was also the leader of the British Zionist League. Chaim Weizmann desired no official recognition but his closeness to those in power enabled him to push for some form of government recognition of the Zionist’s aims. In November 1917 The Balfour Declaration formalised the British Government’s support for the birth of a Jewish State in Palestine, something that was achieved in 1948.

In PC 402 Connected Thoughts August 2024 I mentioned that I was doing a morning walk, leaving the Estoril apartment at 0700, then down to the sea, west to Cascais and back through the residential areas of Cascais, Monte Estoril and Estoril; in all about 7kms. Most people’s morning routines are intentionally timed to the minute, Monday to Friday, to catch a train, drive to work, take the children to school; for example, Celina and I leave our apartment at 0915, give or take a minute, to go to yoga.

So it is in Portugal. Just before I get to Jardim dos Passarihos, I pass an apartment block with beautifully landscaped gardens and an underground car park.

The driver of a green Mini wouldn’t have recognised me on the Monday or even on the Tuesday, but by the Thursday, as she triggered the sliding gate onto the road to open, she might have thought: “I’ve seen that chap before!” I have generally got there a second or two before her, so she’s let me get clear!! Given that my own walking speed varies and I occasionally stop to take a photograph or have some water, it’s strange that I have been in exactly the same place as the Mini driver on 4 out of 5 days in a week!

Finally, Francisquinha’s new passport (See PC 403 Idle Thoughts September 2024) is no longer virginal. Leaving Lisbon on the 11^th, an understanding officer stamped it … with a little bit of encouragement!

Richard 20^th September 2024

Hove

www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1. I had a tuck box full during the autumn term. To harden a horse chestnut (conker) you popped it vinegar. The harder the conker, the more difficult to break.

Our French friend Benedicte was supposed to visit her mother in France one Saturday last month. When she found she couldn’t check-in at home with EasyJet for her flight from London Gatwick, she drove to the airport, about 40 minutes from Hove. EasyJet had overbooked her flight and offered her one on the Monday. She texted me:

“I had to cancel the trip. It’s fate ….”

“Fate can play a funny part – is that why fate’s feminine?”

“La destinée.”

“Exactly!”

“Yes but we also have ‘le destin’. I wonder why we have those two words; there must be a slight difference in meaning. I think ‘destin’ is what you are born with. What is written for you at birth, influenced by your place of birth, your family economic status, your race… you can’t do anything about it. Destinée is more something you can influence. You take your journey in life into your hands. But the difference between the two is also a big philosophical conversation that can vary according to religious beliefs.”

It’s clear that ‘la destinée’ is actually ‘destiny’ in English and ‘le destin’ is Fate. I turned to a dictionary to find some definition. … of destiny:

“A noun. The events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future. For example: She was unable to control her own destiny’. Or ‘The hidden power believed to control future events.” (Which is confusing!)

…. and ‘fate’:

“A noun: the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded by some as predetermined by some supernatural power. In Greek and Roman mythology, there were three Goddesses who presided over the birth and life of humans. Each person’s fate was thought of as a thread spun, measured, and cut by the three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.”

There’s a phrase in English ‘It’s all Greek to me!’, meaning I have no idea what you’re talking about. (Note 1) It appears in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (1599) so it’s not modern, but it sums up my knowledge of Greek mythology and stories of Icarus and Hades and Odysseus and Achilles and ……. However, they had an interesting take on fate, those ancient Greeks.

The ‘Fates’, otherwise known as the Moirai, were the personifications of destiny. They were three sisters: Clotho (Note 2) aka The Spinner, Lachesis, the allotter, and Atropos who was ‘the inevitable’, the metaphor for death. You can see where this is going, can’t you?

Their role was to ensure that every being, mortal and divine, lived out their destiny as it was assigned to them by the laws of the universe. For us mere mortals, this destiny spans our entire lives and is represented by a thread spun from a spindle. I only hope that when Clotho was spinning my life, she didn’t run out of thread too early, and that Lachesis was generous in her use of her measuring rod! These female fates were considered to be above even the gods in their role as enforcers of fate, although they did acknowledge orders from the chief of the gods, Zeus. (Note 3)

The Ancient Greeks were not alone in their beliefs about Fate. In Norse mythology the Norns were a trio of female beings who ruled the destiny of gods and men, twinning the thread of life. One was called Urḋr, from Old English wyrd from which comes the modern English weird.

One source suggests that ‘although they are used in similar contexts, they cannot be used interchangeably’; that’s an ugly word! Fate implies a lack of control or inevitability, like the situation that Benedicte found herself in, no personal control when EasyJet’s overbooked her flight; destiny suggests a sense of purpose or direction that can be within one’s control.

The composer Guiseppe Verdi wrote the opera ‘La Forza del Destino’ (The Power of Destiny). As Shakespeare and the Greek dramatists have taught us, man is not always in control of his own destiny. In Verdi’s opera, based on a Spanish drama, the power of destiny contrives at every turn to frustrate the happiness of Leonora and Alvaro. In 1960 at the Metropolitan Opera, the famous baritone Leonard Warren collapsed and died during a performance of the opera in New York. The supposed curse reportedly kept Luciano Pavarotti from ever performing the opera and the tenor Franco Corelli used to follow small rituals during a performance to avoid bad luck.

You can imagine William Shakespeare had something to say about destiny, and you’d be right. For instance – “This above all; to thine own self be true. And this must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man. It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” This was from ‘Hamlet’ and then we have: “We know what we are but know not what we may be.” Knowing what we are, who we are, is essential to knowing how to be oneself (PC 399 Why Can’t I just be Me? July 2024)

And who could forget Destiny’s Child, the name of an R&B/Soul Quartet that formed in 1990? Its most famous member was Beyoncé Knowles and I’m told its hits included ‘Say My Name’ and ‘Survivor’.  I am more likely to remember the hits of Paul Anka, a Canadian singer born in 1941, particularly ‘You Are My Destiny’, the first line of which goes “You are my destiny, you share my reverie, you are my dream come true, that’s what you are.”

Finally John Dryden, England’s first Poet Laureate (1631 – 1700), wrote of fate:

“Tis fate that flings the dice,

And as she flings

Of kings makes peasants,

And of peasants kings.”

So was it fate that caused you to read this postcard ….. or destiny?

Richard 13^th September 2024

Hove

www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 Other nations have the same saying. For instance the Czechs think it’s all Spanish and the Dutch ‘That’s Chinese to me’ (Dat is Chinees voor mij)!

Note 2 Clotho’s Roman equivalent was Nona, a goddess called upon during the 9^th month of pregnancy.

Note 3 In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the weird sisters were prophetesses, but also known as the three witches.

In the early Nineteen Seventies, in the Officers’ Mess of 39 Medium Regiment Royal Artillery in Sennelager, Germany, we had a monthly ‘film night’ on a Sunday evening, the 16mm film being shown in two parts through an old-fashioned projector. In the interval we tucked into traditional curries and their accompanying side dishes. For a year or so I was the Mess Secretary, responsible for all the Mess’s social events and in this case for choosing the film. One Sunday evening we showed Klute: ‘John Klute’s best friend has disappeared, and he has only one lead, a prostitute. While he struggles to get her to help him, he doesn’t know her life is in danger.’ The film came out in 1973 and starred Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.

It was sad to read that Sutherland had died in June aged 88, for I loved his films, particularly ‘Don’t Look Now’ and ‘Death in Venice’. But then I remembered ‘Klute’ and how Sylvia, the wife of the Commanding Officer Guy Watkins, had come up to me in the interval and criticized my choice of film: “I don’t like smutty films!” Such a good word ‘smutty’; such a great film!

The memory of the 16mm film and its projector reminded me how important radio was in providing entertainment when I was growing up.  Television was in its infancy and my step-father was not, at the time, a fan. One of the best comedy shows was ‘Beyond Our Ken’, which was broadcast from 1958 -1964, and starred Kenneth Horne, Kennith Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee.

It was replaced by ‘Round The Horne’ (1965-1968). I can still hear one of the regulars on his show introducing himself: “Hello! I’m Jules and this is my friend Sandy.” in an extremely camp voice, something which wouldn’t be acceptable these days! The Goon Show, with Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, was another must as were some of the American comedians like Allan Sherman (Camp Granada: Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh) (1924 – 1973), Shelley Berman (1925-2017) and Bob Newhart who died last month aged 94.

Two of Newhart’s sketches are worth highlighting; bear in mind his gift was to make you the listener fill in the other side of his one-sided dialogue.

In his ‘The Driving Instructor’, he imagines the instructor making all sorts of allowances for his student: “You want to start the car?  ….. You turned on the lights. The controls all look alike, don’t they? …. All right, let’s pull out into traffic. What’s the first thing we are going to do before we pull out into traffic? I mean besides praying, let’s say. No, what I had in mind was checking the rearview mirror. DON’T PULL OUT! Haha! Please don’t cry. I’m sorry, but there was this bus . . .”

Ironically, when he first performed this monologue, Newhart could not drive.

His Walter Raleigh sketch relied on huge assumptions. We do not hear Raleigh, who is in Virginia. Instead, the speaker is the English importer, with the voice of a wise-guy modern-day American, reacting to the 16th-century Raleigh’s despairing description: “What’s tobacco, Walt? It’s a kind of leaf, huh? Oh, it has a lot of different uses. What are some of the uses, Walt? You can chew it or put it in a pipe. Or you can shred it and put it in a piece of paper and roll it up. Don’t tell me, Walt, don’t tell me. You stick it in your ear, right? Oh, between your lips. Then what? You set fire to it. Then what do you do, Walt? You inhale the smoke, huh?” His genius is obvious.

I read them now, hear his voice narrating the skit, and find them funny. I wonder whether they transcend the generations.

I am an avid fan of the books of John Grisham and some years ago read The Testament, about a rich American leaving his fortune, much to the anger and bewilderment of his ex-wives and children, to a missionary living in Pantanal. (See PC 17 Pantanal – a Prequel August 2014). I had never heard of the Pantanal, the world’s largest, flattest wetland, 800kms north to south, 500 east to west. On our next visit to Brazil, Celina and I decided to spend a few days at the Fazenda Barranco Alto, one of the agrotourism eco haciendas (see PC 20 Pantanal September 2014) We spent some time on the Rio Negra, often in the company of two Americans, Tim & Diane Tinnes. We kept in touch and in 2015, after our two weeks in Alaska (See PCs 44 & 45), dropped down to visit them in San Francisco for a couple of days.

Tim continues to read my PCs and occasionally comments. Recently he highlighted an article in The Guardian about the current state of the Pantanal, how it’s drying out at a horrendous rate, so much so that large parts of it have been ravaged by fire and fauna and flora are dying. Maybe it will recover but we’re pleased to have had the opportunity to visit it and understand its importance.

During the WhatsApp conversation with Sami and Mo in the Hope Café (PC 401 23^rd August 2024) a couple of weeks ago, Mo and I chatted about OE (Note 1). I was about to tell Mo about Joe Baines-Holmes, a neighbour who was off on the ultimate OE and the internet had connection dropped out. What I wanted to say was that Joe, a computer engineer, has flown out to Wisconsin on a 17-month contract. In a few weeks he will travel via Christchurch New Zealand to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Base (Note 2) where he will spend twelve months ensuring the base’s computer equipment is serviced and maintained. The Antarctic has two seasons; winter, when it’s completely dark, starts in March and lasts until October; summer, when the sun doesn’t set, from October to March. And in the winter the temperature varies between -40C and -70C. Quite an experience for anyone; not sure any other OE could beat this?

My regular readers will already have been introduced to Francisquinha. If you have only recently started reading these scribbles, you could update yourself by reading PCs 172 and 217. I had to apply for a new passport around Easter this year so thought I could apply for one for Francisquinha. Both arrived back in the same envelope, although hers is slightly bigger than mine!

Richard 6^th September 2024

Estoril

http://www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 OE is a New Zealand abbreviation for Overseas Experience.

Note 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%E2%80%93Scott_-South_Pole_Station

“They say (Ed. Whoever ‘they’ are?) that if a butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazonian rain forest, it can change the weather half a world away. This is the theory of chaos. What it means is that everything that happens in this moment is an accumulation of everything that’s come before it. Every breath; every thought. There is no innocent action. Some end up having the force of a tempest. Their impact cannot be missed. Others are the blink of an eye, passing by unnoticed. All I know today is that you can think that what you’ve done is only the flap of a butterfly wing, when it’s really a thunderclap, and both can result in a hurricane.” Catherine McKenzie ‘Fractured’

So, the butterfly …….

Away from our unvarying regime of five sessions of hot yoga a week in Brighton, there’s an opportunity to indulge in some less strenuous activity, like swimming or walking. My mother-in-law’s apartment in Estoril is just under 4kms from the better known town of Cascais, so I have devised a triangular route that takes me down to the little Praia da Poça, west along the promenade to the Cascais railway terminus and back north east ….. to a shower and breakfast!

It takes about 80 minutes and after a while you begin to recognise some of the locals out for their early morning constitutional; roughly the same time, same place!

On my return route, I use a small pedestrian underpass below the railway lines; at the end are some steps, with a metal handrail to assist those who need assistance!

About a week ago I noticed that someone had placed a sticker illustrating a butterfly on one of the rails. Our masseuse Kay Delphine is a great fan of butterflies and has one as her logo; it was automatic to think of her when I saw this little illustration.

Yesterday morning I decided to take a photograph of it, to send to her via WhatsApp. Twenty minutes later she responded:

“That’s so weird, as I’ve just had this tattoo done yesterday. It was meant to be for my 50^th – so only ten years late!”

I just LOVE these coincidences, these very weird connections that appear out of nowhere.

It’s rare to think of natural disasters and their possible occurrence when planning an overseas trip; if you did, you wouldn’t go anywhere. (Note 1) I’ve been to both New Zealand’s North and South islands where earthquakes happen quite frequently, the last in Christchurch, South Island in 2010, when some 185 people died. The Hawkes Bay, North Island earthquake of 1931 devasted the city of Napier and killed 256 people. Nearer to home last year’s Turkish 7.7 magnitude earthquake in southern and central Turkey and northern Syria killed some 60 thousand and displaced some 16% of the Turkish population.

For most people Monday mornings are the start of the working week, a time to get up …. and get on with it …. but not too early a start! Last Monday, the 26^th August, started at 0511. Our bedroom was shaking, things were rattling, noisily waking us from our slumbers and although it only lasted for some 5-8 seconds, if you count those out in your head you will realise this was an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4!

Celina, naturally anxious, is out of bed heading for her mother’s room to check on her. Peace returns, nothing was broken, nothing cracked, but the emotions take some time to subside. I remember making some reassuring comment that earthquakes are extremely rare in this part of Europe, and we should all go back to sleep. Later I remember that Lisbon, 30kms to the East, and the areas around the city, were almost completely destroyed in a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in 1755; over 30,000 people died! (Note 2)

On returning from my walk, over breakfast we compare thoughts. Toni was wondering about after-shock Tsunamis, just how high these walls of water can get. We see on a contour map that the apartment is some 60 metres above sea level, so feel safe.

After many weeks, I have finally returned to and finished Simon Winchester’s Atlantic (see PC 392 Hope Continues 21 June 2024), recommended to me by Sami. This is a fascinating book, chocked full of so much information that you need to absorb the facts in bite-size bits! “As he travels around its edges (the Atlantic Ocean) and across its expanse, he reveals its most captivating stories – the age of exploration; the colonization of the Americas; the rise and fall of the slave trade and history’s great naval battles.”

In his Epilogue, he reveals that the results of extensive modelling suggest at some point in the future the southern tip of South America will join with the Cape of Good Hope and the Atlantic Ocean will cease to exist. The forecast for this major event is some 170 million years in the future so, whilst this should not worry us, today’s movement of the world’s tectonic plates will continue to cause earthquakes and tsunamis. And whilst the visible horror of these movements is too obvious, the scale of movement isn’t. The Sumatran tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 may have killed a quarter a million people and passed into human history as one of the greatest natural disasters of all time, but it only moved the sea floor south of Sumatra a few metres northward and that sea floor is many thousands of miles wide.  

A butterfly flaps its wings ……

Richard 30^th August 2024

Estoril

http://www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 Of course one should avoid, for instance, sailing in the Caribbean during the hurricane season, June to November, or going to some of the Gulf states in their summer, but natural events are hard to forecast.

Note 2 The wooded houses were lit by candles. The shaking caused them to fall over, setting the houses alight. The 30m tsunami completed the destruction.

I texted Sami to say I hadn’t had a chance to get to The Hope before our return to Portugal and we agreed to use WhatsApp for a face-to-face at some stage. Fortunately Portugal and the United Kingdom are in the same Time Zone so on Wednesday, after a leisurely breakfast and completion of the Killer Sudoku puzzles in that day’s digital Times, I called Sami, hoping he was in the café. He answered after a few rings and before the video signal clicked in; I could tell from the background chatter he was probably ensconced at his favourite table.

After the normal pleasantries with which one often starts any conversation, I asked Sami whether he’d watched much of the Paris Olympics.

“I watched the opening ceremony and felt sorry for everyone getting wet ….”

“Reminded me of that ridiculous scene when Rishi Sunak, our last Prime Minister, announced outside No 10 he was calling a General Election. It was raining ‘cats and dogs’, no one appeared with an umbrella, and it negated the whole seriousness of what he was saying. I was ashamed that anyone let him do it.”

“Yes! I agree and it seemed as wet in Paris. I particularly loved the mechanical horse being ridden up the River Seine and thought the whole show fascinating, although I needed the explanation from the television commentator to understand what was being portrayed. For the Games themselves, watched bits of lots of events, especially when the UK had a medal hope, and think we did very well.”

“Often thanks to the funding the sports get from the National Lottery. But if that works, that’s good! I got caught up in the discussions about gender and boxing.”

“Did you understand it, Richard? Took me a while ……”

“I do now but I needed Benedicte, a paramedic friend, to explain it in words of one syllable!”

“Which was?”

“There is clearly a difference in an individual’s sexual development. (DSD) The thought is those two boxers from Algeria and Taiwan are biological males with XY chromosomes but whose bodies lack the receptor that creates external male genitalia. They are raised as females but at puberty their internal testes start producing testosterone at normal levels ……”

“Enough Richard. Think I’ve got it! Not sure that the IOC has, which has been described as institutionally sexist. But that’s a discussion for another time maybe?” 

“Back here in Brighton and Hove, wasn’t it a lovely reflection on our city that over the weekend than many UK cities were experiencing riots, here we had 300,000 people celebrating ‘Pride’? Then there was a rumour a local law firm that assists asylum seekers was going to be a target, and 1000 locals turned out to protest about the protestors, of which there were five!”

“This is such a complex subject Richard and I know from my own upbringing (Note 1) it only requires a vocal minority to stir the pot, aided these days by the prolific dissemination of falsehoods claimed to be fact. However, I am not on a council housing list, continually being put down in favour of an immigrant family, so understand a section of our society is feeling aggrieved. The last government tried to ‘stop the boats’ (Note 2) and we all hope the new government will be more successful.”

“It never helps that newly arrived immigrants have always gravitated towards their own kind. For instance, in parts of north London there are concentrations of Ultra-Orthodox Jews and for some racists there’s not much difference between Lahore and Leeds! But we English did it too, when we colonised parts of the world; built our Christian churches and English estates!”

“Think the Danes have a good idea. Immigrants have to learn Danish within a set amount of time, or they cannot stay.”

“I wonder whether that would work in the UK?”

“By the way Mo wants to talk to you, so I’ll give her my mobile ……”

Mo’s face appears on my screen.

“Hi Mo! How are you? You look all summery?”

“Since you left the weather’s picked up and it’s been gorgeous. What’s new?”

“You know how I have often thought about how life can be a real roller-coaster; I have realised it can start young!”

“Go on ….”

“My second grandson, currently on holiday in France, starts at Secondary School in September and I’m reminded how often in life you ‘begin again’. After getting to the top at Primary School, he will start at the bottom again, although his elder brother will be there; not necessarily a good thing, huh? When he goes to Sixth Form College, he’ll start at the bottom again, as he will when he goes, if he goes, to university.”

“Yes, but as he develops as an adult, he’ll begin to take these changes in his stride.”

“Hope so.”

“I’m not sure if I’m spreading gossip but there’s a rumour that Josh may go back to Israel, especially if the conflict on the Lebanese border develops. He and Luke have gone to northern Norway for a week’s trekking, so I haven’t been able to get confirmation.”

“Did he ever mention that he’d had some OE, the Kiwi abbreviation for Overseas Experience? Sounds as though he’s getting thirsty for adventure, although most of us wouldn’t choose to join an army in action to gain OE!”

“Didn’t you write one of your postcards about OE, when your daughter was thinking of applying to teach in Abu Dubai …. and her husband poo poo’d the idea? And you thought your postcard would prompt more thought and discussion?”

“Yes. That was PC 155 OE from June 2019. Didn’t make any difference but fun to write! (Note 3) A neighbour has gone …(crackle crackle) …. off for the ultimate OE ….. .”

And with that the internet connection dropped out  …..! Will catch up again soon.

Richard 23^rd August 2024

Estoril

www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 Sami’s parents were Indian and English and had to leave India on the 1947 partition, a period of mass slaughter of Hindus by Muslims and of Muslims by Hindus.

Note 2 For some years now, thousands of ‘illegal immigrants’ have risked their lives in travelling across the English Channel from France in inflatable dinghies to claim asylum in the UK. ‘Stop the Boats’ has become the catch-all phrase of every political party.

Note 3 The irony is that Jade’s stepdaughter Ellie has just started a two year teaching contract in Dubai, fully supported by her father Sam.

PC Number   Topic                                                              Date Posted                           

PC01               Bahia Brazil                                                    May 2013                               

PC02               Christmas                                                       December 2013                      

PC03               From Rio de Janeiro                                       January 2014                          

PC04               More from Rio                                                February 2014            

PC05               Sao Paulo and Cananeia                                 February 2014            

PC06               Petropolis                                                       February 2014                        

PC07               Carnival                                                          March 2014                            

PC08               Beach Life in Brazil                                       March 2014                            

PC09               PS to Beach Life                                             March 2014                            

PC10               Paraty                                                              March 2014                            

PC11               Reflections on Sao Conrado                           April 2014                              

PC12               The Visa Tale                                                  April 2014                              

PC13               Hove East Sussex                                           May 2014                   

PC14               At This Moment …..                                      June 2014                               

PC15               Alcohol and Other Drugs                               July 2014                   

PC16               Reflections & Afterthoughts                          July 2014                   

PC17               The Pantanal a Prequel                                   August 2014                          

PC18               Memories of Quercy                                       August 2014                          

PC19               Coincidences                                                  September 2014                     

PC20               The Pantanal                                                   September 2014                     

PC21               What’s Going On?                                          October 2014                         

PC22               Life is Uncertain huh?                                    October 2014                         

PC23               Observations on Shopping                             October 2014                         

PC24               A Short Story                                                  November 2014                     

PC25               A Voice                                                           November 2014                     

PC26               This Language of Mine                                  December 2014                      

PC27               Christmas                                                       December 2014                      

PC28               Balloons, Bacteria Bloating                            December 2014                      

PC29               Cards and Postcards                                       December 2014                      

PC30               Time and Nothing                                           January 2015                          

PC31               Packaging and Frustration                              January 2015                          

PC32               Aaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhh                              January 2015                          

PC33               Pause, Pours and Paws                                   January 2015                          

PC34               Scribbles from Recife Brazil                          February 2015                        

PC35               An Englishman Abroad                                  February 2015            

PC36               Money and Corruption                                   March 2015                            

PC37               A Small Town in Brazil                                  March 2015                            

PC38               Cutlery and Etiquette                                     March 2015                            

PC39               Communicating and Manners                        April 2015                              

PC40               Habits Die Hard                                              May 2015                               

PC41               Weddings and Marriage                                 May 2015                               

PC42               Life and ……..                                                June 2015                               

PC43               Guns and America                                          July 2015                               

PC44               Alaska Part One                                              July 2015                               

PC45               Alaska Part Two                                             July 2015                               

PC46               A Tale of Three Cities                                    August 2015                          

PC47               Loo Paper                                                       August 2015                          

PC48               Did You Notice?                                             September 2015                     

PC49               What are You Worth?                                     September 2015                     

PC50               One Person’s Party can be …                         September 2015         

PC51               Foz                                                                  October 2015             

PC52               My Thumb                                                      October 2015             

PC53               A United Nation’s Birthday                            October 2015             

PC54               The Loo                                                          November 2015                     

PC55               Male Waistlines                                              November 2015                     

PC56               Writing Joined Up (Part 1)                             December 2015                      

PC57               Writing Joined Up (Part 2)                             December 2015                      

PC58               Going Home                                                   December 2015                      

PC59               Incarceration                                                  January 2016              

PC60               Goodbye but Never Forgotten                        January 2016              

PC61               Somewhere to Lay Your Head                        February 2016            

PC62               Retirement, Retired, Retiring and Retire       February 2016            

PC63               Santa Catarina – Southern State in Brazil       March 2016                

PC64               Molars and er Wisdom?                                 March 2016                

PC65               Easter Thoughts                                              March 2016                

PC66               Molars and Wisdom (Continued)                   April 2016                  

PC67               A Short Break                                                 April 2016                  

PC68               Eating Our and In                                           April 2016                  

PC69               Health and Effing Safety                                May 2016                   

PC70               My Man Drawer                                             May 2016                   

PC71               Shared Experiences                                        May 2016                   

PC72               I Took The Bus                                               June 2016                   

PC73               What Is It About Chicken?                             June 2016                   

PC74               Thoughts on Meditation and Ommmmm       July 2016                   

PC75               Strangers Sighted in Cornwall                        July 2016                   

PC76               A Short Tale                                                    August 2016              

PC77               A Small Affair                                                September 2016         

PC78               I Know Who’s Missing                                  September 2016         

PC79               They Make You Want To Get Up to Dance    September 2016         

PC80               It Sat on The Shelf                                          October 2016             

PC81               And The Buses Came Along In Threes          October 2016             

PC82               Footwear                                                         October 2016             

PC83               Godsons et al                                                  November 2016                     

PC84               Hot Yoga Thoughts – the Beginning              November 2016         

PC85               A Conundrum                                                 December 2016                      

PC86               Boxing Day                                                     December 2016                      

PC87               Travelling is Such Joy                                    December 2016                      

PC88               Coromandel                                                    January 2017              

PC89               Franco’s Santiago                                           February 2017            

PC90               Mosquitos                                                       February 2017            

PC91               Japanese Sao Paulo                                         March 2017                

PC92               If You Are Over 5o, Read on                          March 2017                

PC93               Hot Yoga Thoughts – to The End                   March 2017                

PC94               Sight and Eyes                                                            April 2017                  

PC95               Booking An Appointment                               April 2017                  

PC96               Short Conversation with My Step-Father      May 2017       

PC97               Southern Technology                                      May 2017                   

PC98               Europe in er 15 Days?                                    June 2017                   

PC99               Montefiore                                                      June 2017                   

PC100             A Milestone                                                    July 2017                   

PC101             Joaquim and Douglas                                     July 2017                   

PC102             Creative Writing                                             July 2017                   
PC103             Homework                                                      August 2017  

PC104             Customer Services Satisfaction                     August 2017              

PC105             Sirens                                                              September 2017         

PC106             Sailing in The Baltic                                       September 2017         

PC107             Lisbon                                                             October 2017             

PC108             I’m Long and Black                                        October 2017             

PC109             That Reminds Me (1)                                     November 2017         

PC110             That Reminds Me (2)                                     November 2017                     

PC111              Driving Around                                               December 2017                      

PC112             Another Lisbon Postcard                                December 2017                      

PC113             Extra! Extra! Read All About It                     December 2017                      

PC114             The Box                                                          December 2017                      

PC115             Modern Times                                                January 2018              

PC116             Health Spas                                                     January 2018              

PC117             Ancient and Modern Slavery                         February 2018            

PC118             Where Are We Going?                                    February 2018            

PC119             Why Can’t You Just Do It?                             March 2018                

PC120             Virgin                                                              March 2018                

PC121             Bananas etc                                                     April 2018                  

PC122             Margo                                                             April 2018                  

PC123             It Depends on Your Perspective                     May 2018                   

PC124             Night Time                                                     May 2018                   

PC125             Day                                                                 May 2018                   

PC126             Brexit and ….                                                 June 2018                   

PC127             I went looking for a Family Seat                    June 2018                   

PC128             Travelling                                                       July 2018                   

PC129             A New Experience                                          July 2018                   

PC130             Lisbon, Mafra and Sintra                                August 2018              

PC131             Sipping Ginger Tea                                         August 2018              

PC132             September                                                       September 2018         

PC133             A Travel Vignette                                           September 2018         

PC134             The Largest Mediterranean Island                 October 2018             

PC135             A Time in One’s Life                                      October 2018             

PC136             Hot Topic Scribbles                                        November 2018                     

PC137             Other Ideas and Musings                                November 2018                     

PC138             Remembrance – Another Time                      November 2018                     

PC139             University                                                       December 2018                      

PC140             Extra! Extra! (2)                                             December 2018                      

PC141             Saloio Estoril                                                  December 2018                      

PC142             Rules is Rules                                                 January 2019              

PC143             Failure is …….                                               January 2019              

PC144             From Snow & Ice to Tropical Warmth           February 2019            

PC145             Extreme Weather                                            February 2019            

PC146             Ferries                                                             March 2019    

PC147             Ferries (Continued)                                        March 2019                

PC148             The Common Cold                                         March 2019                

PC149             Relationships                                                  April 2019                  

PC150             These Little Things                                         April 2019                  

PC 151            The Human Circus                                         May 2019                      

PC 152            The Fosbery Connection (1)                           May 2019                      

PC 153            Courgette Neutral                                           June 2019                      

PC 154            The Fosbery Connection (2)                           June 2019                     

PC 155            OE (Overseas Experience)                             June 2019                     

PC 156            Time to Stand and Stare                                 July 2019                     

PC 157            Does it matter if no one knows?                     July 2019                     

PC 158            AirBnB                                                           August 2019                

PC 159            Ironing                                                            August 2019                

PC 160            Change                                                            September 2019         

PC 161            The Atlantic                                                    September 2019         

PC 162            What Moisturiser Do You Use?                      October 2019               

PC 163            Do I sell Myself Well?                                    October 2019               

PC 164            The City of Bath                                             November 2019                     

PC 165            Growing Up in Bath                                       November 2019                       

PC 166            Social Mores                                                   November 2019                       

PC 167            Hove Actually                                                 December 2019                        

PC 168            Singapore                                                        December 2019                        

PC 169            Shifting Sands & Feathers                              January 2020                

PC 170            100% Pure New Zealand                                January 2020                

PC 171            Belonging to One’s Nation                             February 2020              

PC 172            Fransciquinha                                                 February 2020            

PC 173            Water Water Everywhere                                March 2020                

PC 174            Can’t read well, Can’t write well                   March 2020                  

PC 175            POD(s)                                                            April 2020                    

PC 176            Numbers (1) 24067711                                   April 2020                  

PC 177            Numbers (2) 484065                                       April 2020                  

PC 178            Smarties                                                          April 2020                  

PC 179            Just The Ticket                                               May 2020                   

PC 180            Individual Fear                                               May 2020                   

PC 181            What Vague Idea?                                           May 2020                   

PC 182            Guns and Carnations                                      June 2020                   

PC 183            Beirut Lebanon 1983                                      June 2020                   

PC 184            News                                                               June 2020                   

PC 185            Virtual Stuff – Funerals                                  June 2020                   

PC 186            Rubbish                                                           July 2020                   

PC 187            Numbers (3)                                                    July 2020                   

PC 188            Did I Plan My Life?                                       July 2020                   

PC 189            With Some Trepidation                                  July 2020                   

PC 190            Up My Nose                                                   August 2020              

PC 191            Not Normal Behaviour                                   August 2020              

PC 192            Why You Should Try Something                    August 2020              

PC 193            Stuck in The Lift!                                           August 2020              

PC 194            Waiting for ……                                             September 2020         

PC 195            Snippets …….                                                September 2020         

PC 196            Tales from Northern Ireland (1)                     September 2020                     

PC 197            Tales from Northern Ireland (2)                     September 2020                     

PC 198            Tales from Northern Ireland (3)                     September 2020                     

PC 199            The Way We Are                                             October 2020             

PC 200            Another Milestone                                         October 2020             

PC 201            Facts and Dying                                              October 2020                           

PC 202            Others’ Manners                                             October 2020                 

PC 203            A Milk Bottle                                                  November 2020                         

PC 204            A First Step (1)                                               November 2020                       

PC 205            A First Step (2)                                               November 2020                       

PC 206            Chewing The Fat                                            November 2020                       

PC 207            I’ll Eat my Hat                                                December 2020                        

PC 208            Wills & Pens                                                   December 2020                        

PC 209            Off Arromanches (1)                                      December 2020                        

PC 210            Xmas Lights                                                   December 2020                        

PC 211            Off Arromanches (2)                                      December 2020                        

PC 212            Gardening                                                       January 2021                

PC 213            7 Up                                                                January 2021                

PC 214            Saints and Sinners                                          January 2021                

PC 215            Almost a Disaster                                           January 2021                

PC 216            Spread and Share                                            February 2021              

PC 217            My Week – Francisquinha                             February 2021              

PC 218            The Corner Shop                                            February 2021              

PC 219            It Doesn’t Take Much                                     February 2021              

PC 220            Soleful Tales                                                   March 2021                  

PC 221            Ephemera                                                        March 2021                  

PC 222            Institutional Meals                                         March 2021                  

PC 223            Chips & Shoulders                                         March 2021                

PC 224            Trinity                                                             April 2021                  

PC 225            The Fall Guy                                                   April 2021                  

PC 226            The Truth The Whole Truth                           April 2021                  

PC 227            Departing                                                        April 2021                  

PC 228            Thinking Out Loud                                         April 2021                  

PC 229            Kiel to Oslo                                                    May 2021                   

PC 230            Observations                                                   May 2021                   

PC 231            Ropes Warps and Sheets                                 May 2021                   

PC 232            Pockets                                                           May 2021                   

PC 233            Am I obese?                                                    June 2021                   

PC 234            No Buts … no Butts                                       June 2021                   

PC 235            Generosity in Government                             June 2021                   

PC 236            Dawn                                                               June 2021                   

PC 237            Next Slide Please                                            July 2021                   

PC 238            Good and Not So Good                                  July 2021                   

PC 239            They Go Together (1)                                     July 2021                   

PC 240            They Go Together (2)                                     July 2021                   

PC 241            It’s Been a Long Time Coming                      July 2021                   

PC 242            What is This Thing Called Love (1)               August 2021              

PC 243            Le Renaud                                                       August 2021              

PC 244            What is This Thing Called Love (2)               August 2021              

PC 245            The Tagus and Cascais                                   August 2021              

PC 246            Five Senses                                                     September 2021                     

PC 247            Collections (1)                                                September 2021                     

PC 248            100 Year Party                                                September 2021                     

PC 249            Knockdown                                                     September 2021                     

PC 250            Summarising the Last Year                             October 2021             

PC 251            Collections (2)                                                October 2021                         

PC 252            Commuting                                                     October 2021                         

PC 253            What is This Thing Called Love                    October 2021                         

PC 254            Overheard                                                       October 2021                         

PC 255            Collections (3)                                                November 2021                     

PC 256            Words English & Foreign                               November 2021                     

PC 257            Alcohol and The British Issue                        November 2021                     

PC 258            Playing by and with myself                            November 2021                     

PC 259            Toast                                                               December 2021                                  

PC 260            Bread                                                              December 2021                                  

PC 261            That Moment                                                  December 2021                                  

PC 262            Christmas Eve Post                                         December 2021                                  

PC 263            Freedom                                                          December 2021                                 

PC 264            Bits and Pieces                                               January 2022                          

PC 265            The Bucket                                                     January 2022                          

PC 266            Inside One’s Head                                          January 2022                          

PC 267            Modern Complexity                                       January 2022                          

PC 268            Least We Forget                                              February 2022                        

PC 269            Hope                                                               February 2022                        

PC 270            Phrases                                                            February 2022                        

PC 271            Friday 25^th February                                       February 2022                        

PC 272            Temporal Memories                                       March 2022                            

PC 273            Stories to Tell                                                  March 2022                            

PC 274            Tick Tock                                                        March 2022                            

PC 275            Kerfuffle et al                                                 March 2022                            

PC 276            Picture at an Exhibition                                  April 2022                              

PC 277            Unintended Consequences                             April 2022                              

PC 278            Refuge – The Hope Café                                April 2022                            

PC 279            Starstreak                                                        April 2022                            

PC 280            One’s Heart                                                     April 2022                            

PC 281            Stepping Through Life                                   May 2022                             

PC 282            Back in The Hope                                           May 2022                             

PC 283            Lyrical                                                             May 2022                             

PC284             Knowing your Nyms & Mnemonics              May 2022                             

PC 285            Lyrical Too                                                      May 2022                             

PC 286            I’ve Read That …..                                         June 2022                             

PC 287            Update from The Hope                                   June 2022                             

PC 288            Oink! Oink!                                                    June 2022                             

PC 289            I had Dinner with Her Majesty                      July 2022                             

PC 290            This & That                                                    July 2022                             

PC 291            More Oinks                                                     July 2022                             

PC 292            Dear Sir (1)                                                     July 2022                             

PC 293            …. And another thing ….                               July 2022                             

PC 294            First Week School Holidays                           August 2022                        

PC 295            The Holiday Swap                                          August 2022                        

PC 296            Idle Holiday Thoughts                                    August 2022                        

PC 297            Still Idle                                                          August 2022                        

PC 298            Judge Not                                                        September 2022                   

PC 299            The Nation Pauses                                          September 2022                   

PC 300            Three Hundred Postcards                               September 2022

PC 301            And Still They Came                                      September 2022         

PC 302            Sami in India                                                  September 2022         

PC 303            The Hope Survives                                         October 2022             

PC 304            Foot Fetishes                                                  October 2022             

PC 305            Alternative Beliefs                                         October 2022             

PC 306            Murder at The Fete                                         October 2022             

PC 307            I am                                                                 November 2022

PC 308            From Pillar to Post                                          November 2022         

PC 309            A Conversation with Sami                             November 2022         

PC 310            Bits & Bobs                                                    November 2022         

PC 311            I Am Lucky                                                     December 2022          

PC 312            News from The Hope                                     December 2022          

PC 313            I am Lucky (2)                                                December 2022                      

PC 314            23^rd December – A Story                                December 2022          

PC 315            The Penultimate Day                                      December 2022          

PC 316            On The Bus                                                     January 2023              

PC 317            Dear Sir (2)                                                     January 2023              

PC 318            All I Want for Christmas                                January 2023              

PC 319            The Atacama (1)                                             January 2023              

PC 320            The Atacama (2)                                             February 2023            

PC 321            All I want for Christmas (2)                           February 2023            

PC 322            Conversations in The Hope                            February 2023            

PC 323            Jottings                                                            February 2023            

PC 324            Monsters                                                         March 2023                

PC 325            Rather Unconnected Scribbles                       March 2023                

PC 326            Hope – Exploring Relationships                    March 2023                

PC 327            Hope – Exploring Relationships (2)               March 2023                

PC 328            Random Events                                              March 2023                

PC 329            Supper With Sami (1)                                     April 2023                  

PC 330            Supper With Sami (2)                                     April 2023                  

PC 331            The Year of The Rabbit                                  April 2023                  

PC 332            Return to The Hope                                        April 2023                  

PC 333            Return to The Hope (2)                                  May 2023                   

PC 334            Sepsis                                                              May 2023                   

PC 335            Lisa Wallace’s Story                                       May 2023                   

PC 336            Hope Springs                                                  May 2023                   

PC 337            An American in Bath                                      June 2023                   

PC 338            There’s Always Hope                                     June 2023                   

PC 339            With a Connecting Door                                 June 2023                   

PC 340            Serendipity                                                     June 2023                   

PC 341            Tradition                                                         June 2023                   

PC 342            Relationships – IRL                                        July 2023                   

PC 343            Back in The Hope                                           July 2023                   

PC 344            In Support and Under Command                   July 2023                   

PC 345            Drifting                                                           July 2023                   

PC 346            Puds to Greece                                                August 2023              

PC 347            Frogmore, Devon                                            August 2023              

PC 348            In The Hope                                                    August 2023              

PC 349            Coincidence? Nah! Big Brother                     August 2023              

PC 350            Another Year Another Fifty                            September 2023

PC 351            The Hope Closes – temporarily                     September 2023

PC 352            About Men                                                      September 2023

PC 353            Of Cabbages and Kings                                  September 2023

PC 354            More about Men                                             September 2023

PC 355            Renewed Hope                                               October 2023

PC 356            New Hope News                                             October 2023

PC 357            Loo Gymnastics                                             October 2023

PC 358            More from the Hope                                       October 2023

PC 359            Swimming Places                                           November 2023

PC 360            Kaftans, Mimi and Toutou                              November 2023

PC 361            Hope Returns                                                  November 2023

PC 362            Eternity                                                           November 2023

PC 363            C is for …..                                                     November 2023

PC 364            Hope Gossip & The Maldives                        December 2023

PC 365            Hope Gossip (continued)                               December 2023

PC 366            Medical Decluttering                                     December 2023

PC 367            Shells of the Camino                                      December 2023

PC 368            The Hope in 2024                                           January 2024

PC 369            Still in The Hope                                            January 2024

PC 370            Habits & Addictions                                       January 2024

PC 371            Driving Alone                                                 January 2024

PC 372            Hope News                                                     February 2024

PC 373            Anally Focused                                               February 2024

PC 374            What’s In a Name?                                         February 2024

PC 375            Hope and a Hot Topic                                     February 2024

PC 376            That’s it – MOT Complete                             March 2024

PC 377            Societal Changes                                            March 2024

PC 378            Josh is back in The Hope                                March 2024

PC 379            Cataracts                                                         March 2024

PC 380            Left Right                                                       March 2024

PC 381            ID Please                                                        April 2024

PC 382            Hope                                                               April 2024

PC 383            The Cow and The Moon                                 April 2024

PC 384            The Man in the Window                                 April 2024

PC 385            More Hope                                                      May 2024

PC 386            Life in a Hyphen                                             May 2024

PC 387            A&E                                                                May 2024

PC 388            Lymington                                                      May 2024

PC 389            Lymington (Continued)                                  May 2024

PC 390            Tales of Croatia (Part 1)                                 June 2024

PC 391            Tales of Croatia (Part 2)                                 June 2024

PC 392            Hope Continues                                              June 2024

PC 393            MS Roko                                                         June 2024

PC 394            Portugues Notes                                              July 2024

PC 395            Hope News                                                     July 2024

PC 396            Hope News (continued)                                 July 2024

PC 398            Need another arm                                           August 2024

PC 399            Why Can’t I just be Me?                                August 2024

PC 400            Another Major Milestone                               August 2024

I started writing the obligatory postcards, as one did before the days of texts/instagram/facebook etc, during my first visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in April 2012. It wasn’t until my third visit in late December 2013 that I started sending electronically what I might have written on a postcard, abbreviated to PC.

Along came my lovely techie son-in-law Sam. He set up my page on WordPress, www.postcardscribbles.co.uk. ……..

….. and also found a post office franking for Brighton & Hove dated May 1940.

During the Covid pandemic the frequency increased from two a month to one a week and here I am, in August 2024, posting my four hundredth 1000-word PC. Regular readers often ask where my ideas come from; they tell me that the variety of topics I cover makes them look forward to Friday’s post, so that’s good huh! I think a comment from one of our fellow passengers on MS Roko, who had read my three PCs about our Croatia/Montenegro experience (Nos 390, 391 & 393), was interesting:

“Were we on the same boat, did we go on the same tours, did we have meals together? All I do on holiday is relax and enjoy the sun. You seem to do that and observe life going on around you, listen to life going on around you, enough to write three fascinating ‘Tales of Croatia’.” Look up, not down huh?

In September 2023 I summarised the content of the fifty postcards numbered 301 to 350. In this second 50, to make up another 100, medical issues seem to have been a focus these last few months. First we had PC 366 ‘Medical Decluttering’; followed by PC 373 ‘Anally Focused’ (‘An excellent read; who else could write about the anus with such aplomb’); PC 376 ‘That’s the MOT Complete’; PC 379 ‘Cataracts’ and the last, and somewhat unexpected, PC 387 ‘A&E!’ Compiling this list I wonder whether ‘Loo Gymnastics’ (PC 357) would qualify to be included in this group?

PC 384 ‘The Man in the Window’ from April was prompted by the man who sits at his desk across Albany Villas from our apartment in Amber House. Subsequently I saw him walking up our street towards me; I had to introduce myself! Simon works as a Civil Servant in some Government Estate department, so is a classic example of WFH and an occasional visit to the office. Now when we leave home at 0915 for the bus and hot yoga, we acknowledge each other!

I played around in my head how to write something interesting about the cow that supposedly jumped over the moon. It’s one of those nursery rhymes that you learn as a child and remains with you the rest of your life, much like some Christmas carol or particular hymn. It’s the source of the English expression ‘over the moon’, meaning delighted, thrilled, extremely happy – and we all need to feel that sometimes.  PC 383 was entitled ‘The Cow and The Moon’:

“Brilliant! Where do you get your ideas from?

“Er! Between my ears …. Or somewhere else!”

“Obviously your grey matter, but I’m impressed by how you piece together such a narrative. A most enjoyable read.”

I have written a number of PCs about Portugal, the country where my Brazilian brother-in-law Carlos and family settled in 2016 and where my mother-in-law and her partner live when not in Rio de Janeiro. In this section, in PC 353 ‘ …. of Cabbages & Kings’ (September 2023) I wrote about Portugal and its history, finishing with the last king. The title came from Lewis Carroll’s poem ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’. Our last visit was summarised in PC 395 ‘Portuguese Notes’ which attracted this comment: ‘As usual an interesting and engaging read … you always pull in the reader with ease.’

PC 367 ‘Shells of the Camino’ was written because Armando Colucci, a yoga buddy originally from Naples, brought me back a shell from his walk along the final part of the pilgrim way, in reverse, from Finisterre to Santiago de Compostella. I learned a lot researching the story, so ‘thanks’ Armi.

One of the joys of eating at a table is having a conversation with those who’ve joined you. PC 360 ‘Kaftan, Mimi & Toutou’ was the result of one such occasion, which covered, inter alia, Demis Roussos and a Boys’ Own story of daring do from World War One! Mimi commented: “Very interesting! No idea the war was fought on Lake Tanganyika.”  

I have been enjoying the coffee and the company of the regulars in The Hope Café since the autumn of 2021 and in the last year have posted some 15 PCs about my lovely conversations and the coffee in the café here in Hove. In the last year Susie has returned from her late Gap Year and is now enjoying her course. Josh unexpectedly travelled out to Israel following the Hamas attacks of October, joined the IDF and was wounded up on their border with Lebanon.

In addition to publishing my postcards on WordPress, I usually upload them to LinkedIn and Facebook. Facebook’s AI decided that PCs 397, 398 and 399 breached their rules and wouldn’t publish them. “It looks like you tried to get likes (etc) in a misleading way.” If you read them, go figure!

Last week’s PC 399 was entitled ‘Why Can’t I just Be Me?’. Sandie commented: “Most people don’t know even who they truly are; it’s hidden under layers of societal conditioning and generational traumas.  School systems strip children of the very essence that makes them unique. It’s a big complex subject. Love that you’ve written about it.” And Meryl: “This PC has a Buddhist emphasis …. from creativity involving complete focus, to happily bumbling along without the need to fulfil one’s potential!”

I hope that the next fifty will give as much pleasure to you as they will to me.

Richard 16^th August 2024

Gatwick Airport

www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

PS Off to Estoril again so this posted in Gatwick Airport

PPS PC 400a contains the titles of my postcards

I was musing the other day about what has become the title of this postcard: ‘Why Can’t I just be Me?’ The obvious first question is how to define ‘me’! A writer uses ‘me’ to refer to himself or herself. I didn’t think this is very helpful as I think ‘me’ resides between my ears, somewhere inside my head – although I could conceive ‘me’ living in my arse sometimes! Depends on the mood, the ‘this’, the ‘that’, happy, sad, tired, enthused, excited, interested …. take your pick.

There really is of course ‘nothing new under the sun’!

Written on The Temple of Apollo in the ancient Greek precinct of Delphi is this wonderful demand: “Know Thyself.” Socrates interpreted this to mean that an essential part of knowing yourself must be recognising the limits of your own wisdom and understanding; knowing what you do genuinely know and knowing what you have to learn. Another ancient Greek, one of its seven founding figures, Thales of Miletus, is recorded as saying it’s the most difficult thing in life, to know yourself.

Not sure whether you buy your Broad Beans from Mr Birdseye, from your local market stall when they are in season or are able to pick them from your vegetable patch, but it was only about 30 years ago I was told they should be double-podded before they’re cooked ie you strip off the outer skin then remove the inner layer to get at the real essence of the broad bean. The parallels with our human existence are obvious; to be ‘me’ you need to get underneath your own skin, to acknowledge just who you are. The basic ‘me’ is made up of my values, a sense of right and wrong, my attributes ie qualities that define my character, skills that I have learned over my life, my attitude and beliefs ….. these have all coalesced into ‘me’.

We are no Chameleons but often ‘wear’ a character, a disguise that’s not a true version of oneself. The immediate example for me is that of the cold caller/salesman. When I became an outplacement consultant in 1991 and latterly running my own leadership coaching business, I had to make those ‘cold calls’ to sell my services and win the business. Sometimes you just have to do something that’s not really ‘you’ but it’s liberating to take the mask off afterwards! 

The older one gets, the more confident one becomes in reinforcing ‘me’! In one’s youth it’s easy to get drawn into the group, the need to ‘belong’ a very basic human instinct. A good example was my decision to give up alcohol back in 2002. (See PC 15 ‘Alcohol and Other Drugs’ June 2014 and PC 257 ‘Alcohol and the British Issue’ November 2021) To some it seemed unfathomable that I would forgo something I had obviously loved, was part of ‘me’! “Still not drinking then? Go on; one won’t hurt!” bellowed Tony, pouring his own Gin & Tonic and perhaps subconsciously questioning his own need for alcohol. Why couldn’t Tony let me be me, or a new version of me?

In the late ‘80s I went to Egypt with a friend who didn’t do planning, didn’t do ‘booking’, just happy to see what might transpire. I was extremely uncomfortable at the thought and insisted at the very least we book a hotel in Cairo for the beginning and end of our stay. Being emotionally uncomfortable is not me; I need to be organised.

When I am drawing some threads together that possibly will become a postcard, I am delighted when serendipity plays her hand. Some days ago I read of Rowan Atkinson saying: “I hate it when people ask me ‘why are you so quiet?’ Because I am. That’s how I function. I don’t ask others: ‘Why are you so noisy? Why do you talk so much?’ It’s rude!” Perfect: Rowan being himself.

Back to being me. I wrote a few weeks ago how in any creative aspect of life, of composing music, writing plays or songs, painting in oils or in acrylics, there are those who do it well and those who do it adequately, some perfectionists, some producers who create for the popular market and some who simply get by. I tend to believe I am in the latter category with both my writing and my painting, although the judge is oneself! I was described as ‘autodidactic’ last month; I had to look up its meaning! And the funny thing is I recognise this ‘me’, that I can do something perfectly adequately, but I am no perfectionist. So I bumble along, like being me, but resist when others suggest I should do a course, practise more, become ‘better’ – whatever that might mean.

For I really love being engaged, recognising that doing something creative requires complete focus, so that out of the brush grasped between your fingers you lay out your thoughts, your imaginings or their representation.

We live with others, almost by definition, as without others no one could ‘be’ and this produces constraints. “A man can be trapped by his own masculinity or what is perceived by his masculinity. (Note 1) They feel they have to act in a certain way because that’s what society as a whole expects. So most men end up living a life that is not really theirs; it’s dictated by societal expectations.” So perception and the expectation of others often discourage us from being ourselves.

Last weekend was Brighton’s Pride weekend, with parades etc; some 300,000 gathered here to celebrate, something unthinkable before the 1970s. We have come an extremely long way, a difficult and tortuous way, so that people can be themselves, be ‘me’.

He obviously loves yellow; just being himself.

In the final analysis, of course I can be ‘me’, with a confidence of understanding just what ‘me’ comprises and live with myself!

Richard 9^th August 2024

Hove

www.postcardscribbles.co.uk

Note 1 There should be no difference in the concept of either masculinity or femininity.