Sunday 1 May 2016

Warm Winter, cold Spring = ........?


I have spent the last three days - more like three months - trying to get my email working normally, but I won't bore you with that right now. Suffice to say that I feel physically sick after an hour of working on it.

Update on the Giant Bully situation: I was standing outside near the door a couple of days ago, and he walked past and into the pub, pausing only to wordlessly kick me in the leg from behind. That was enough to get him barred, so at least I stand more of a chance of relaxing with friends - whilst I'm on the inside. I need to be able to relax right now, but that may not include walking to and from the pub.

Today is May Day. As usual, they spent the best part of the year enlisting virgins to dance round the Maypole, but had to call the event off because the girls' status had changed some time during the run-up to May 1st.

I don't know why pagan May Day is associated with the Left, but I suppose it is all to do with agriculture and the rustics who were paid a pittance to gather in the tithes. The things some people have to do to feed their families - I mean, to actually grow the food.

I think the above photo was taken in New Zealand. A lot of my images are sourced from there these days. They might have more virgins than we do, or there might be more farmers per acre than here. Maybe they just have more British ex-pats per acre, or are they called 'migrants' these days?

11 comments:

  1. I wish someone were here before me, and I had a better feeling for which Maypole thread will be picked up and carried. I can only say that bullies are despicable at any age and authorities who do not curb them are equally despicable. Current events with a grandchild and her school mates are the basis of my observation. How can bullies come into a conscience and say "It stops with me?"

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    1. Re bullies, it is a very strange experience, being bullied at my age when I thought it had all come to a stop when I was 13. The authorities have acted, and I am fighting off feelings of shame and humiliation.

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  2. Kim Jong Un has just picked his own troupe of young virgins, but they are not expected to remain in that state.

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    1. But they are expected to remain in THE State...

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  3. I am horrified to hear about the bully kicking you. The photo of the May Day Pole reminds me of a story in someone's autobiography ( wish I could remember) who as a young girl was involved in a very large May Day dance. Battling nerves and trying to be enthusiastic she ended up getting a lot of the other girls caught up in an awful jumble. It was very funny and I wish I was there to have seen it.

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    1. Yes, that would make a great You Tube clip these days. The kick was not injurious, it was one of those ones where the kicker puts his toe into the back of your knee, causing a temporary collapse. You know - where your leg bends for a second before you recover. It was still a kick, though. Luckily, it was my left knee. My right knee is arthritic, and that would have caused damage.

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  4. Tom, there's still time to wish you a Happy May Day, a day that has many connotations.

    Hereabouts, today has been chilly and full of rain. Guess the flowers will recover and strut their stuff tomorrow.

    Being kicked by a bully is no good. Does the pub owner really require the bully's presence to stay in business? It's difficult to think of a bully situation being delicate.

    Thank you again for the peregrine link. I am beginning to get used to seeing what those triplets get fed.

    Best wishes.

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    1. Those chicks get fed with anything that flies. It is a sad - but natural fact - that because the parents have to kill about three birds a day to keep everyone fed, quite a few other chicks starve to death in the nests at this time of year, if both parents end up as dinner. The bully is barred - until he sincerely apologises to me, which isn't going to happen.

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  5. Is the pub owner so unaware of how a bully operates that he thinks it will stop with you. The bully is testing to see how much he can get by with.

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    1. The manager knew he was losing the pub money - potentially - but acted on the principle that his behaviour was unacceptable. In the old days, bullies would run pubs from the other side of the bar.

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  6. Well Tom, now I'm surprised!
    This galloping around a pole is a tradition that was very specifically ours. The maypole turned into the Midsommerpole, originally there was more stress on its crossfeatures, our Maypole is a gigantic cross, covered in flowers and leafs and danced around by the heathens, i e , us, highly sophisticated dances ofcourse like: Little froggies, The fox rushes over the ice, Lets go round the juniperbush and other famous dances. Its usually the first we teach the newcommers...poor souls. To this we add pickled herring, fresh potatoes, sour creme, strawberries and brandy in several different flavours. I believe its a celebration of the harvestingseason.

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