Monday, April 30, 2018

Something of a mystery.


Sophie looks presentable this morning. It's a good hair day.

Bobs chin still has tell tale signs of last nights yogurt.


Gaggles of pilgrims walking through the village this long holiday weekend. It rains heavily on Sunday morning but this doesn't deter them. You can tell the pilgrims; they all wear something red - a hat or a jacket. In this wet weather most of them are sporting transparent plastic tent shaped ponchos. Some have two walking sticks, other make do with an old fashioned staff. I like the pilgrims. There's something reassuring about the presence of folk who've slammed on life's brakes and taken three or four days to walk along country lanes. The pilgrims rarely journey alone. They congregate in groups. Some laugh, some walk side by side in silence but most are engaged in quiet conversation. It's as if they know that the nondescript stranger walking alongside has a life history so rich and fabulous and complex that no Hollywood script writer would ever believe it. There are wrens nesting in the laurel hedge who flit and flutter around the pilgrims as they pass. Some of the tiny birds land on the road and walk along beside them. They seem oblivious to danger. Is this a wren thing ? Robins also have something of this fearlessness about them.

Bob stands on his stump seat with Furry Fox in his mouth and watches. He's convinced he looks ferocious. Someone should tell the pilgrims who, oblivious to his ferocity, smile and wave. Pilgrims tend to be greeted with squeaks rather than barks - a canine response which is something of a mystery but which may tell us much about how dogs judge humans. 



If I've understood this properly then cigarette use in the US is back to 1918 levels : https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/sales-of-cigarettes-per-adult-per-day

The last man who knew everything : https://theweek.com/articles/763465/last-man-who-knew-everything



12 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
One of the most delightful films watched recently was The Way. Not perfect, but then neither are any of us who walk through life. Though SBG may have been coming close! YAM xx

Taste of France said...

Quite a few of my retired friends have walked the chemin de Saint-Jacques. They do it for a month or so at a time, every year, keeping track in a kind of passport. Even here to the east, quite a few chapels and such are named Saint-Jacques (and marked by a shell) and were stopping points along the horizontal routes heading west before turning south into Spain.

WFT Nobby said...

The pilgrims do sound an engaging bunch.

Kerrie Roberts said...

A pair of pilgrims came through our village last week with a donkey, then another pair on bicycles. We have a pilgrim refuge opposite the church so it's good to see it is being used. Could be signs of a busy year on the camino.

Poppy Q said...

what a good dog Bob - guarding your lovely home from the pilgrims. Although it looks hard work, I think it would be a nice way to spend the spring weeks. Walking and thinking.

Angus said...

The numbers seem to be way up this year .

Angus said...

They bring life to what would otherwise be a very quiet place . The PONs of course agree.

Angus said...

In the local town the medieval pilgrim hostel with its carved shells around the door and eaves has been converted into a pizza outlet. Better, I guess, than it falling down.

Angus said...

Guess the pilgrims motto is better to walk imperfectly than never walk at all.

Angus said...

The presence of Furry Fox makes guarding less onerous.

Coppa's girl said...

Poor Bob, it's hard work trying to look ferocious, and I'm sure most of the pilgrims would rather give him a cuddle - I know I would!

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
There was a BBC 3-parter with five 'stars' doing the walk leading up to Easter.That'll have boosted interest. Yxx