Robert Caro, the Pulitzer winning author, had a rule. Whatever happened he would write a thousand words a day. How I envy his diligence. It's difficult finding things to write about in the second year of a pandemic that has slowed village life to a crawl.
At is at this point that fate intervenes and the village becomes the centre of activity. Three workmen in a white van start work on the lane. It's late on a Saturday afternoon so they must be getting double time. They are installing a second telephone cable . One man goes up on a hydraulic arm to drill a hole in the pole, a second one directs traffic ( the traffic is non-existent so he smokes and looks bored ) while a third man passes up the end of the cable to the first man .
It goes without saying that Sophie is intrigued by all this activity. She sooo wants to join in. The family diva stands at the near gate and welcomes the workmen with a chorus of excitement. From the looks she gets in return I'd bet the workmen aren't dog people.
If that wasn't excitement enough we discover that the piebald horse in the field by the storm drain has got a coat wearing companion. Sophie is altogether less keen to meet the horses.
So passes another day in a village of 67 souls.
12 comments:
A beautiful song today but the 'bonnets' elicit all sorts of negative thoughts about the tendency of so many male dominated religions to want to control women's behaviour and appearance. How much distance between a silly little cap and a burkha? OK, Sunday rant over, I need to get out more. At least the rain has stopped. For the moment...
Please give Sophie a head scritch from me.
Cheers, Gail.
It's hard to see all that activity outside your gate without imagining Bob maintaining vigil from his stump seat. Sophie seems to be doing him proud, which makes it especially unfortunate that the workmen are not dog people and don't appreciate her attentions. We have just returned from our visit to Kyoto, which is distinctly not a dog-friendly city. No dog-friendly restaurants or cafes, most taxi drivers refuse to accept dogs that are uncaged, etc., etc. It made us appreciate our hotel, and its welcoming dog biscuits, all the more. The autumn foliage was still beautiful, and Charlie handled it all with good grace. Kyoto Station on a Sunday afternoon was a revelation - absolutely packed with travelers, including tour groups. It made me wonder whether they, like us, are trying to take advantage of the quiet before what seems to be the inevitable next storm (as well as the absence of the foreign travelers that would usually fill the city at this time of year), or whether they somehow think it is over.
It seems to me that there is plenty of excitement in your little village! Three whole workmen installing a second telephone cable - wow! how many other villages can boast that? Another horse, and one wearing a coat - how elegant - is it Parisienne?
Inca would like Sophie to know that whilst she's extremely envious of all those goings on in your village, her last few days have not been without some excitement too. The men installing the new central heating have supplied moments of angst - drilling through the wall above the new boiler to fit the exhaust pipe. Not checking beforehand that there was a bathroom behind, and wrecking wall tiles and the lavatory seat! Fortunately it's a bathroom only used when we have visitors, which are non-existent during these times of Covid.
Workmen never cease to amaze !
Charlie's trip to Kyoto sounds very exotic. We think you are very brave to venture on a train - even a high speed Japanese one - with a four legged friend. It's turnstile gates that would defeat us.
The head covering juxtaposed to being maskless is strange to European eyes.
Our dogs would be envious of Sophie having someone for longer than a minute or two to bark at. A Fed Ex or UPS truck is about as good as it has gotten here, even before the pandemic.
I enjoyed the Advent song for today. I looked up the group, thinking they were all Mennonites and they are a group of "Anabaptist background." I'm going to have to look that up too.
Hari OM
Anabaptists include Mennonites (which the dresses mostly suggest), Amish, Hutterites... further to Gail's comment, the traditionalist tendencies remain strong there and as Angus hints, some degree of COVID denial. No denying the carol was beautifully sung, though! YAM xx
Hari OM
Oh, I did try to read that article on the poultry - three sentences in I had to surrender - the designer needs a talking to about 'visual access'... I add my 'air scritchies' to Gail's, so she should be purring like one of those C-A-T-S by now!!! YAM xx
'she' as in Sophie - not Gail...
Sophie smells all of the wonders every time she goes out, oh the tales she could tell of visitors unseen my the horses
I'm with Gail on bonnets. The guys could pass imperceptibly in any city, but not the women. I feel the same about veils--as long as the men also wear them, fine.
The church bells (a block away, thus inescapable) played "Little Drummer Boy" today, which struck me as a very American and, associating it with the stop-motion TV special (and lots of merchandising), a commercial choice. That said, I have the sheet music (well, my mother had it and now I do).
The electricians remind me of a joke: how many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb? A: only one, but the lightbulb has to want to change.
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