Roland Milk

 

Col took this beautiful shot of the moon rising above the rusty hulk some weeks ago.  So I thought I would remember Beachcomber's floppy-collared poet Roland Milk, and his ode to the moon in this blog:

The moon and I 

met face to face

in a sequestered country place

I thought the moon was heavenly

I wonder what it thought of me.

I doubt we will ever know.  But it probably found Roland rather fey.

We had an interesting study with the Lady of the Flowers on Wednesday morning. She was very welcoming as usual.  We were doing Lesson 32, God's Kingdom Now Rules, in the Enjoy Life Forever Book.  You can look up book and chapter on JW.org, under Library and under books, if you want to.

If you do you will see it contains an examination of Bible prophecy in Daniel and Revelation which tells us that the Kingdom of God began its rule from heaven in 1914.

Now, given that, why have things on the earth gone so spectacularly badly since then?  The Book of Revelation explains what happened in heaven at that time.

And I found this interesting quote from an American newspaper, in 1914:

  “The terrific war outbreak in Europe has fulfilled an extraordinary prophecy. For a quarter of a century past, through preachers and through press, the ‘International Bible Students,’ best known as ‘Millennial Dawners,’ have been proclaiming to the world that the Day of Wrath prophesied in the Bible would dawn in 1914. ‘Look out for 1914!’ has been the cry of the hundreds of traveling evangelists.”​—The World, a New York newspaper, August 30, 1914.

We, Jehovah's Witnesses, were known as International Bible Students back then, or sometimes Millennial Dawners. But how busy my brothers and sisters had been before 1914 even though there were not so many of us back then!

The warning was sounded and now millions are listening. And while, yes, it is a warning, we are trying to tell you that this is the darkest hour before the dawn and things are soon to get wonderfully better. The present wicked system of things on the earth is soon coming to its end. That really is good news.

And given these fearsome floods that have swept away whole villages in Nepal in an instant - caused apparently by the partial collapse of a large glacier - how much we need a government that can perfectly control the natural forces, the heavenly one.

We woke to clouds and rain on Thursday morning - precious clouds and precious rain. And we are having friends to lunch today - just a sandwich lunch in the lounge - with ice-cream to follow. My cooking and entertaining days seem to be effectively over - this side of Armageddon. But we did a lot of entertaining in our time, including the early years of our retirement.

And with my back aching simply from making the egg mayo filling for the sandwiches I need to remind myself to thank Jehovah that I have actually had a long enough retirement to speak of its "early years".

We had a lovely lunch with Steve and Angela - and it was a shock to realise how long it was since they came round for a meal - back in the days when we had a dining table, not a computer desk. The years race by, faster and faster.

The Weather

 

METAPHORS

by me (written a long long time ago, when Francis was THE weatherman.)


Are people not able to speak in metaphors anymore?
Its hot as hell, its raining cats and dogs
Francis the Weatherman doesn’t say.

No cherubs blow the clouds on Francis’ weather chart
And no suns smile
In the icy Aquarian Age
Cold fronts seize up the tongue,
And perhaps the heart.

The Age of Aquarius was quite a big thing then. I now understand what the times we are living in are - and they have nothing to do with astrology. We are living in what the Bible calls "the last days" - the last days of the current wicked system of things on the earth - the system that awards some more money than they can spend in a hundred lifetimes and leaves others to live their whole lives never knowing once what it is not to be hungry. It is a system that, if left unchecked, will bring the whole planet to ruin.

Col took me to the Kingdom Hall on Sunday morning, so I was able to appear in person not in my usual pixel. It's not just a matter of a lift, I could get one, but I need help getting dressed. The public speaker was so good - the half hour public talk just flew by leaving us all wanting more.

And re "hot as hell", the Biblical hell - Sheol in the Hebrew Scriptures, Hades in the Christian Greek - is simply the ground, the grave, where the dead sleep in the dreamless sleep of death until the time comes for them to wake up. And it will be a wonderful awakening when it comes.

I had a double Zoom session Monday morning with a friend - the Siblings Zoom moved to Tuesday as Nute was working. The weather has certainly changed in that while it is sunny there is a feel of September in the air. No more rain yet though. The picture above is of our brown Green.

We Zoomed this morning, just three of us, as Nute is still very busy workwise.

Thunder?

 A Thunderstorm In Town

Thomas Hardy

She wore a 'terra-cotta' dress,
And we stayed, because of the pelting storm,
Within the hansom's dry recess,
Though the horse had stopped; yea, motionless
We sat on, snug and warm.

Then the downpour ceased, to my sharp sad pain,
And the glass that had screened our forms before
Flew up, and out she sprang to her door:
I should have kissed her if the rain
Had lasted a minute more.

https://allpoetry.com/A-Thunderstorm-In-Town

My favourite thunderstorm poem.  And I am wondering if we are in for some  - thunderstorms, not poems. Thursday was sunny again, but everything is refreshed by the rain.  Our Green is definitely less brown, and Angela said she woke up  hearing both the rain and real joy in the birdsong. We have clouds in the sky, though not rain clouds, and a sparkling wavy sea.  

We still haven't had any thunderstorms here though.  I have mixed feelings about them.  We do need more rain, badly, but our block of flats has been stuck by lightning twice, on one occasion putting out the lifts for three months and on another occasion cracking the plaster in the walls of one of the flats next door.

I am back on my Zimmer this morning - a very painful left foot got me and poor Captain B up in the early hours - so the lifts going out again is not a happy thought.

Oh for perfect health - which is something us poor damaged children of Adam have never yet known.  Can we imagine how wonderful it will be?

The photo is one of our Green after a downpour taken by Captain B some years ago.  The Green does not look anything like that at the moment.

The Captain is at home today - not metal detecting!  And he came back from his shopping with a bag of Victoria plums. They have such a short season, and if you can pick them straight off the tree they are my favourite fruit.

The ones he bought are OK - perfectly edible, but they are not what they can be.  Maybe, when the paradise earth is restored, we will have a garden with a couple of Victoria plum trees...

He also bought back a cooking apple, so I am wondering about making an apple and plum crumble for supper.   But who knows?  Getting myself showered and dressed seem to take up every ounce of my morning energy.

New batteries please!

Travels by Book

-

A Book

by Emily Dickinson

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!

https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/book/

My early poetry was by A A Milne.  I can still remember much of it:  "Of all the Knights in Appledore/the wisest was Sir Thomas Tom..."

I just loved the beginning - very numinous somehow - and of course the poem is so funny, Sir Thomas Tom being much too wise to get into any fights.

And I can remember bookworming away, lost in Beau Geste in one of the many quiet corners of Nabbs.  I was - Spoiler Alert - so shocked when the hero died!  I did not know such a thing could happen.  Its not a book I could have read or enjoyed as an adult, but as a child I was completely lost in it, transported into the world of the book.  As for Bulldog Drummond in The Final Count !!  I found it terrifying.  That mysterious poison that killed you instantly if a drop of it touched you, UNLESS you had the antidote.  

I did not have the antidote.  Fortunately Bulldog Drummond did.

And I have been a great armchair climber for many years. I don't know how many times I have been up Everest, K2, the Alps, etc, the safe way, by sofa. With a cup of nice hot tea by my side.

Tuesday morning there was still no rain - not down here anyway.  There has certainly been some in the North.  Helen reported wet stuff falling from the sky on facebook on Tuesday morning.  And - hurray! - this morning we had our rain - a little in the night and steadily all morning. Which is better than a monsoon-type downpour which runs off the dry ground so quickly causing flooding.

And this morning we went to our Flower Lady for our  Bible study as usual. She was very welcoming and we talked some more about the Kingdom of God, the heavenly government that will set things right, wonderfully right, on the earth.

How I wish everyone on the earth would just accept a Bible study and find out what it actually says.  If it is God's inspired word, as its writers claim, then  clearly the proof lies within it.

There are no pictures of Appledore in Col's blog, but I did find this pretty one of Crab Apple Blossom which makes a nice heading.

Old

 

Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold

By William Shakespeare

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou see'st the twilight of such day

As after sunset fadeth in the west,

Which by and by black night doth take away,

Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the death-bed whereon it must expire,

Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.

This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45099/sonnet-73-that-time-of-year-thou-mayst-in-me-behold

Shakespeare said it so well I can only let him say it for me. And, yes, the older I get the more precious, wonderful and interesting the gift of life becomes.  As Ecclesiastes tell us, Jehovah has put eternity into our hearts. We want to live, not die.

Nadine, very kindly, was concerned that I would not be able to get out to the river to have a good seat for the Eclipse on Wednesday.   But I was happy to see what I could from our balcony.  After all, I hope to inherit the earth and live forever upon it, so I hope to see many eclipses, many comets as they return and return, and have many many more glimpses into the incredible universe in which we find ourselves floating.

In the end, Nute and me were on the balcony, and the rest of the family, including Captain Butterfly and his camera were on the Green - the brown Green - below, along with crowds all watching for the moment.  It was a partial eclipse so nothing spectacular from our viewpoint - just a change of light and a lengthening of the shadows.

But what a splendid Universe Jehovah has made and set this jewel of a planet in. Learning to take care of the earthly creation properly will be wonderful, and so will learning more about the universe of which so far we have only had the merest of glimpses.

We are all in "the valley of the decision", and I hope we will all make the decision to search for our Creator now and live forever in the restored earthly paradise.

Nute left Friday morning, but the Derby family left the night before after treating us all to a fish and chip supper.  Friday was super hot and airless.  The breeze from the sea had died down so we had no relief. And no rain in sight.  There was a strong wind blowing the curtains about in the early hours of Saturday morning, bringing some welcome cool. But what we need is rain - coming down steadily, not as a monsoon, which will run off and flood.

Sunday morning, and still no rain.  Col is at home today, which is nice, as he is usually out with the Detectorists.  He left very early yesterday, and worked The Field all day, but found nothing.  A couple of good things were found though.

The Lion's Mane Moth

 

Hilaire Belloc

Jim, Who Ran away from his Nurse, and was Eaten by a Lion

There was a Boy whose name was Jim;
His Friends were very good to him.
They gave him Tea, and Cakes, and Jam,
And slices of delicious Ham,
And Chocolate with pink inside,
And little Tricycles to ride,
And read him Stories through and through,
And even took him to the Zoo—
But there it was the dreadful Fate
Befel him, which I now relate.

You know—at least you ought to know,
For I have often told you so—
That Children never are allowed
To leave their Nurses in a Crowd;
Now this was Jim's especial Foible,
He ran away when he was able,
And on this inauspicious day
He slipped his hand and ran away!
He hadn't gone a yard when—Bang!
With open Jaws, a Lion sprang,
And hungrily began to eat
The Boy: beginning at his feet.

Now, just imagine how it feels
When first your toes and then your heels,
And then by gradual degrees,
Your shins and ankles, calves and knees,
Are slowly eaten, bit by bit.

No wonder Jim detested it!
No wonder that he shouted "Hi!"
The Honest Keeper heard his cry,
Though very fat he almost ran
To help the little gentleman.
"Ponto!" he ordered as he came
(For Ponto was the Lion's name),
"Ponto!" he cried, with angry Frown.
"Let go, Sir! Down, Sir! Put it down!"

The Lion made a sudden Stop,
He let the Dainty Morsel drop,
And slunk reluctant to his Cage,
Snarling with Disappointed Rage.
But when he bent him over Jim,
The Honest Keeper's Eyes were dim.
The Lion having reached his Head,
The Miserable Boy was dead!

When Nurse informed his Parents, they
Were more Concerned than I can say:—
His Mother, as She dried her eyes,
Said, "Well—it gives me no surprise,
He would not do as he was told!"
His Father, who was self-controlled,
Bade all the children round attend
To James' miserable end,
And always keep a-hold of Nurse
For fear of finding something worse.

https://englishverse.com/poems/jim

This Strewelpeter parody is almost as horrid as the original.  But I do love the Keeper and his stern command.

There is a moth called The Lion's Mane, and it has a lovely golden mane, as very likely did Ponto above. Sadly I can't find a photo of it in the Captain's Gallery as it has never visited our balcony - let alone our shores.  (It has never, in recorded history, eaten a small child either.)  But I have found a photo of a lion pride happily dozing in the South African sun  taken on my one trip there. They looked so calm and placid, but if anyone had been insane enough to get out of the safari vehicle they would have found, quickly and tragically, that looks can be deceptive.

 I remember we went to Longleat once, many many years ago (with our aged parents), and drove through the lions enclosure.  A large male lion came strolling along, oh so casually, right by our car, almost brushing it. "Why", his demeanour said "I haven't even noticed there is a car full of lunch...er...people right beside me, I'm just lost in deep, peaceful and kindly thoughts. Don't I look cuddly!".

We did not believe him, which is one reason why I am here today to write this blog. But I remember how flimsy the car suddenly felt as he brushed alongside it - I felt like a sardine in a can.

We had our annual visit to The Arun View on Tuesday night, the seven of us.  Food as good as ever, staff as friendly as ever, and ambience as good as ever.  It's a great local, though we may not get there much these days.   I was distinctly un-lionlike and had a veggie dish, the vegetable roast, served with a lovely coulis (or sauce as we used to call it), beans and tender stem broccoli. Delicious.

I then chose to forget that I did not need a pudding and had two scoops of sorbet: passionfruit/mango and raspberry.  Which I could not even finish. I did not have a very good night's sleep, which served me right.

There is very likely a Hilaire Belloc style cautionary rhyme in this - about greed - if I were up to writing it.

Out of greed/and warnings that she would not heed/she took a pud she did not need/ A pride of lions passing by/noted she was in no shape to fly/to safety from their hungry jaws/ and so, without a moment's pause...

Clearly it needs Hilaire himself to do it justice.

New Oven, Old Moon

This is a photo Col took of the full red moon a few evenings ago, from our balcony.  We watched it for ages, while sipping at our glass of home made wine.  What an exquisite way to pull the tides along and light up the night.

Curries, via two sturdy guys, delivered our new oven on Friday morning - quick and efficient - all done before 9 o clock.  It looks very smart, and we now have the oven and the grill in the right places - grill on top, oven below.  So, what with that and our new shower having been fitted on Monday and working well, it was a good week for appliances.

Are there any appliance poems I wonder?   I just looked on Google and, to my amazement, there are - verse rather than poetry though, which makes sense.  But I am not inspired to write one, alas.

We had visitors round for a chile evening, which I thought would put the new oven to the test.  However, the guest who was cooking for us did it all on the stove top. And very good it was too.  Makes me realise how long it is since I cooked my faithful old TexMex chile recipe that was very popular in our expat days - when we entertained a lot.

We tested out the new oven on Saturday night when it cooked pizzas beautifully for us all - seven of us - and so quietly too!  It makes me realise that poor old oven had been grumbling and rattling for some time before it gave up, but I had obviously got used to it.

Last week we started the Lady of the Flowers on Lesson 31 of the book Enjoy Life Forever: What is God's Kingdom?

She had a conventional Protestant upbringing, religious assemblies at school. church attendance, Sunday school, while I had an intensive religious education at my convent school.  Yet neither of us were taught anything about the Kingdom of God.

Interestingly, novelist and historian H. G. Wells called attention to this failure of Christendom’s clergy when he wrote: “Remarkable is the enormous prominence given by Jesus to the teaching of what he called the Kingdom of Heaven, and its comparative insignificance in the procedure and teaching of most of the Christian churches.” 

It is remarkable in one way, but not in another when you consider this warning from the Book of Revelation:  

"So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth..." - Rev.12:9

The "original serpent" the one who lied to our first parents, and set this whole disaster in train, is now misleading the entire inhabited earth.

But if we listen to our Creator and let us ourselves be guided by him, we will not be fooled.  Jehovah will guide us safely through to the restored earthly paradise.