The weather forecast said it would be dry and sunny. It is of course raining when I wander downstairs to greet Sophie. Her tail wags as I turn on the lights but she seems to be less than keen to go outside into the wet.
In the village a double funeral. The old couple who lived in the house behind the town hall have both passed on. She on Thursday night. He on Saturday morning. I'd only met her once. A thin woman who smiled wanly and said little. When we first arrived here Madame Bay informed us rather graphically ' the doctors had left her wracked with ill health'. We never got any more details than that. It was clearly deemed inappropriate to ask, which is unusual as the French will happily launch into long monologues about their most surprising and intimate ailments. The poor womans husband heard the news and seems to have given up. This causality is, I think , rather unlikely but Madame Bay insists it's more common than you'd think.
The funeral a sparsely attended, rather dreech affair. The men from the funeral parlor and such mourners as there are wearing pale blue face masks. This gives the service a rather eerie pandemic feel. The funeral bell does a double toll which makes for a dour end to the morning. The Old mayor is delighted that the wet conditions haven't impaired the bell tower electrics. He'd been rather fearful that he'd press the button to get the bells going and nothing would happen.
The two horses in the field next to the churchyard watch the ceremony and contentedly munch on the long grass. From time to time one or other wanders over to get a better look. At one point Angus's mind wanders and he observes that the geraniums by the churchyard gate are looking rather jolly.
At lunchtime three chimney balloons arrive in the post. The existing ones must be at last five years old and have started to require a lot of topping up . One has collapsed completely which enabled a blackbird to fly down the stack and reappear in a bedroom at the end of the hall. Much fun was had in getting it to leave the house. The bats don't seem to fly down the chimney. They prefer to find any open window to fly through.
Dog owners may find this interesting :
https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/how-old-is-your-dog-in-human-years-scientists-develop-better-method-than-multiply-by-7
The difference on population density between the UK and France is large : https://twitter.com/fedfragapane/status/1277574651804295169/photo/1
Trust a parrot to outsmart everyone : https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/07/african-grey-parrot-outperforms-children-and-college-students/
5 comments:
Wow, very provocative links today! I really can't imagine that Cherry, at 12, would be 70 in human years - but then again, Dr. Fauci is 79, so maybe. The population density graphic was also fascinating And then the article about Griffin. I was familiar with Dr. Pepperburg's work with her late parrot Alex but have not heard about Griffin. We have a lovely 7-year old African Grey named Lucky, who's never learned anything we've tried to teach her other than her often-medleyed renditions of the Queen of the Night's aria from the Magic Flute and "You're in the Army Now" but has picked up all sorts of other things she's found worthwhile. (Like when Cherry barks at the front door, Lucky shouts "Cherry, come!" in my voice - and if that doesn't work, "Cherry, treat!") Cherry, in turn, barks in the morning to remind us it's time for Lucky's breakfast - Lucky tosses her scraps to keep her on the ball about this.
For once, I think Madame Bay has a valid point. For example, my paternal grandparents died within a week of each other, shortly after they had reached their diamond (60th) wedding anniversary.
It would be interesting to see the population density graphic with separate plots for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England would then be even closer to the top of the chart.
Cheers, Gail.
Hari OM
Angus' mind did indeed wander, for I see only hydrangeas by the gate... and I recall my vet back in Sydney last century telling me that to know Jade's age, take the first three years by the usual x7, then change down to x4 per human years. So there was already the concept that aging slowed down after the youthful years.
Doesn't apply to me. I have aged 10 in every 1 of late... YAM xx
I never knew about chimney balloons.
Now if you really want to live away from the crowd, Australia's population density is 3.3 per square kilometer.
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