Written in March

 

Written in March (1798)

The cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing,
The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter,
The green field sleeps in the sun;
The oldest and youngest
Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing,
Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated
The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill
On the top of the bare hill;
The Ploughboy is whooping–anon–anon:
There’s joy in the mountains;
There’s life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing,
Blue sky prevailing;
The rain is over and gone! 

by William Wordsworth

https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/written-in-march

This is a poem I remember from my childhood. Still love it.  Although I am not quite sure the rain IS over and gone this March.  And I am not bothered either, as I love weather.

The photo that heads the blog is of Spring Buds, from Col's photo gallery. It does show a blue sky prevailing, though the weather here continues pretty grey - full of a sea mist on Monday, and calm and grey on Tuesday.  It was springlike and sunny on Wednesday though, and we drove through daffodils to see our student.

Us Fantastic Book authors had our weekly Zoom session on Monday night.  Will it inspire me to finally finish The Canals of Mars?  I will likely publish it in my blog if I do.  I have got so far with it, it seems a shame not to do so.

Wednesday morning we were with our Bible student - and I think we may have had a breakthrough, after many years of calling.  But we will see. 

The afternoon was a harrowing session at the dentist - root canal business - nearly and hour and a half - too much really - I felt completely exhausted after it.  Hopefully it has gone well and is all done now.  I couldn't get through to Col on his phone after though.  A few years ago I would either have driven myself there, or been able to walk back anyway. Not now, alas.  However I had an idea, and sent a cry for help over the family watsapp. And one of my nephews responded, contacted Col, and so the cavalry came over the hill just in time, in the shape of my little red car with Col in the driver's seat.

And the dentist was followed by the perfect antidote, in that I was able, courtesy of a lift from my siblings, to attend the Pioneers Meeting with the Circuit Overseer in the evening.

We were divided into three groups and each given a task to think about - all concerned with what being a pioneer means.  Not just a question of trying to do some more hours in the preaching work, but how we can be of extra support to the whole congregation.  It has given me a lot to think about, especially as the state I am in now means that I feel less useful all the time.

But somehow, Jehovah makes every one of us feel appreciated.  And that is so lovely.

Anyway, with three outings yesterday, I was up in the early hours, taking painkillers. But hopefully I can have a quiet restful day - no meeting tonight, as we had it on Tuesday. And I have a double Zoom session with a sister this afternoon, so that will provide my witnessing for the day.  I got a supply of Memorial invites from the Kingdom Hall and hope to write a short letter to post them with.  Or, more grammatically, with which to post them.

Oh, and talking of being useful, the Sandwich Fairy, who also had three outings yesterday, did manage to ensure that Col's sandwich lunch was ready for him in the fridge when he left very early this morning for The Field.

Yesterday, when I was Young

 

And it does seem just like yesterday sometimes.  Other times my youth seems eons ago, a different world altogether.  What is that quote?  "The past is another country, they do things differently there"?

I would love to write a small poem about it... but... 

So I hope to keep looking ahead to the times when the lost paradise is regained.  Still in a lot of pain from my feet and ankles, but I am trying to really give them some rest this time.   Col left very early on Saturday morning for The Field with The Lads. I had a bad night, up in the early hours, painkillers, so slept in a bit.  Bea phoned. She had just had another medical upset which she needed to talk about.  We both have plenty of such upsets these days, alas.

Col also left very early Sunday, so I attended the meeting in pixel form.

A strange day in a way.  I did manage to get some witnessing done.  I am aiming for a minimum of 30 minutes a day - but hopefully more - and I also got a load of washing done, and Col's supper sorted. Oh, and my studying.  But I felt somewhat down and tired and depressed.  I think that my body is scared of what is happening to it. Which does make sense in that Genesis tells us that we were originally made to live forever. What is happening to us now is not natural.

Why else have poets lamented the shortness of our life down the ages?

The English Channel was not in evidence this morning as a sea fret was hiding all but some of The Green.  It looks lovely.  I guess we will soon be re-filling our balcony with flowers and I will be able to do my studying out there in the mornings.

I want to say something profound about youth and age, but so many poets have already said it, much better than I can.  And the inspired definition of old age in Ecclesiastes is hauntingly accurate.  I am old enough to know that now.

It's raining again!   Not that I mind, I love weather, its just that I am surprised there is any water left up there.

Guests

 

Moth season began on Monday night when Col put out his moth trap for the first time this year.  Three moths spent the night with us in their cosy eggbox rooms - one was a Hebrew Character, the other two were Common Quakers.  COMMON Quakers.  Hyacinth Bucket - sorry, Bouquet - would not have been pleased if they had turned up in Richard's moth trap!

But I shall try and get over the loss of social status.

Still in a lot of pain Tuesday morning, but managing without my Zimmer - which is almost like being Usain Bolt these days.

The sun is out, and no sign yet of what the old rhyme warns us: "The March wind doth blow, and we shall have snow..."

Still in pain, right ankle very swollen, on Wednesday morning, but zimmer free, if slow.  Which is a good thing and we had a Bible study to conduct.  Our student, who cancelled it, has asked if we will re-start.

So we re-started the Bible study with the flower lady - and came back with two chocolates, one for me and one for him.  He gave me the one for him, so I had two chocolates.  I should not even have had one.

Had to Zoom to the meeting last night. I was hoping to get there, but Col said I would not be able to make it. He was quite right, it was even very difficult to sit through the Zoom session.

The world situation continues to be tragic, this war - if war it is - continues.  I have brothers and sisters on both sides of this lethal divide and my prayer is that they will continue to be united in their love for the Creator and for each other, and not let "the world" divide them.

And here is a thought from our midweek meeting:  True loyalty is love translated into action -  with reference to the loyal love that Jehovah showed to Abraham and his descendants.

If I can't do all that much action-wise in the physical sense now, I hope I can continue to try to tell all who will listen about the Kingdom of God, via letters, email, etc.  And I did make Col a roast chicken dinner yesterday, followed by an apple crumble. 

The Man He Killed

Yet again war has broken out, and brother is killing brother.  So I am thinking of this poem by Thomas Hardy today:

The Man He Killed

by

Thomas Hardy
1840 –1928

"Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

"I shot him dead because--
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

"He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like--just as I--
Was out of work--had sold his traps--
No other reason why.

"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown."

And still all around us is the tender and splendid beauty of the creation. The photo above is of an Early Purple Orchid, and is our calendar picture for March - taken by the gallant Captain of course.

A bad night on Saturday - paying for that 20 minutes standing I had to do by our wounded car on Friday.  If I had thought ahead I would have taken it very easy on Saturday, just rested, and it might not have had such a bad effect.  An even worse night on Sunday - a lot of pain.  Right ankle this time.  And I am still in pain this morning, though I can now hobble about without my zimmer, which is always a good sign.

It reminds me why I can no longer go door to door though - not only can I not do the walking but standing at the doorstep talking to people would cripple me.  

However, I have decided to pioneer this month and the next - just the 15 hours witnessing a month, which I would hope to achieve anyway. But it is good to make the commitment and hopefully - obviously - to exceed it.  I have some new territory to write to, another request for Not Home letters and a Bible study to re-start this week, so as long as my hands continue to work - alongside my brain (oh dear) - it should not be a problem.

Surely, in the face of all the horrors going on in the world, people are looking for a government that does care for us, that can really help us - the heavenly one, the Kingdom of God.

Col took over on Monday as I zimmered painfully and slowly about.  He made the soup for lunch and made supper. An omelette for him, just some toast for me (I am not feeling very hungry). He always does the breakfasts.  I was at least able to empty the dishwasher at the end of the day.  And I had my usual two Zoom sessions in the morning, which did take my mind off the pain a bit.

I am just waiting to be able to take my painkillers  - another ten minutes and I should be there.

The plumber comes today to fit the new tap in my bathroom.  Life goes on, for some, tragically not for others caught up in the current horrors in the Middle East. 

I am grateful still to be here, even though in pain, seeing the quiet and beautiful sunrise over the English Channel - a gull just flew across, a perfect note in the symphony of morning.  Yet another masterpiece from our Grand Creator, Jehovah.  It fills me full of hope, in spite of everything.

Wives and Daughters

I have just re-read Mrs Gaskell's Wives and Daughters - and really enjoyed it.  But it is such a long time since I read it that I had forgotten she died before she could finish it!  And while it is clear who the heroine is going to marry, we are left not knowing how Mrs.G would have arranged it.

Frustrating. But maybe, one day, in the restored earthly paradise, IF the author and I are both there, I can ask her how it would have turned out.

I had also forgotten that Angus Easson wrote the intro to this edition.  He was one of my lecturers in my Uni years - way way back when.  A nice guy - and he had a long academic career I believe.

Anyway, the difference between the world Mrs.Gaskell wrote about and the world that is being written about nowadays is startling.  

Thursday morning, I managed to get myself up and dressed, Col having left very early for The Field, heard and let in the man delivering Col's latest parcels (another achievement, given the situation with my ears), unpacked the Abel & Cole delivery, made the usual apple crumble, and a big veggie/lentil/curry/casserole thing, and did my study for the Thursday night meeting.  We - the congregations worldwide - are considering Isaiah chapter 40 this week - which contains some beautiful poetry - and which also tells us that the world is a sphere, a globe, a round earth (verse 22). That is something we are now privileged to see for ourselves in those photographs from space, where the round earth floats like a blue and white jewel in the stupendous universe.

But I have chosen these particular words from Isaiah 40 for this blog. And they have inspired the choice of Col's photo above, of a grass called Yorkshire Fog.

Listen! Someone is saying: “Call out!”

Another asks: “What should I call out?”

“All flesh is green grass.

All their loyal love is like the blossom of the field.

  The green grass dries up,

The blossom withers,

Because the breath of Jehovah blows upon it.

Surely the people are but green grass.

  The green grass dries up,

The blossom withers,

But the word of our God endures forever.”

- Isaiah 40:6-8

Our lives are so short, as things are now, but Jehovah's word will endure forever.  

Talked to Bea on Friday - and as usual these days there was much to be said about our various medical issues.  We are both in the mature grass stage now... very mature...

We also visited Jacks in her lovely care home. She seemed happy to see us and we had quite a good chat about old times and old friends. We took her some chocs in as well, which she appreciated (as did we).

And then there was yet another appointment with the audiologist. Followed by a drama when the car - my little red KAA - just stopped. Col stalled it and it would not re-start.  We had to stop it, lights flashing, bonnet up, and the traffic had to steer round it, until a man from Cuff Miller (our garage), appeared like an angel of mercy and jump started us. It turns out we need a new battery. Which does make sense in a way as I am driving so little nowadays, though we do use my car now and again.

While we were waiting there, me probably looking somewhat in pain, holding on to a bike stand thingummy - Col not wanting me sitting in the car in case someone rear-ended us - a very kind lady walking a dog offered to give me a lift home if necessary.  I thanked her for her kindness, but at that point the Cuff Miller Superhero arrived and got us going again.

The car is having a new battery fitted on Monday... and one day I hope that both me and Captain B will have our new batteries fitted so to speak, as per the promises in Jehovah's everlasting word, and be able to enjoy life forever on the lovely globe of the earth.

I hope we all will.

The Young Mrs Captain Butterfly

Sweet-and-Twenty  

by William Shakespeare

 O MISTRESS mine, where are you roaming? 
O, stay and hear! your true love 's coming, 
 That can sing both high and low: 
Trip no further, pretty sweeting; 
Journeys end in lovers meeting, 
 Every wise man's son doth know. 

What is love? 'tis not hereafter; 
Present mirth hath present laughter; 
 What 's to come is still unsure: 
In delay there lies no plenty; 
Then come kiss me, sweet-and-twenty! 
 Youth 's a stuff will not endure.

https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poems/short/youth#google_vignette

Col has been going through some old photographs - see above, from one of our early holidays at the Merritt's caravan on the Cornwall/Devon border.  It makes me feel rather melancholy, but given my last blog was about old age, I thought maybe this one could be about youth.  And once again, I will let Shakespeare speak.

More medical stuff on Wednesday.  Blood test for Col - audiologist for me.  Following on that, I have another Audio appointment on Friday - and of course the appointment to have the crown fitted on my treated tooth is looming up.

Talking of crowns, is our royal family, which has survived so much, going to survive the Epstein scandals  - the depth of corruption that is being revealed?  Time will tell.

Col brought me a new tap for my bathroom. The tap that came with my new bathroom doesn't seem to lend itself to something so simple as a new washer. And so it goes. If the present system of things on the earth lasts long enough, will one dripping tap require a whole new bathroom?

As these blogs have been a bit of a meditation on youth and old age, I can say this for sure.  If someone said to me that they had a pill that could make me twenty years old again.  Would I take it?  No, No, and No again.  Not unless I could go back then knowing exactly what I know now.

What I am hoping for is to live forever in the restored earthly paradise - in perfect health. And when I think of all I have learnt in the nearly 40 years I have been taught by the Jehovah's Witness congregation I wonder what it will be like to have been learning such wonderful things for 400 years - 4,000 years - etc?

The Ashes of Youth

Sonnet 73

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 ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang;
In me thou seest 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 seest the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_73


What a short time we have to spend with the people we love.  The sunset picture was taken on an island, during our travelling years, so a long time ago.  My own sunset years are nothing like as beautiful and dramatic, but more of a slow undignified slide, on a slope that is getting steeper and steeper.

But then the sun was made to rise and set - and we see perfection in every sunrise and sunset - and, such is the variety of Jehovah's creation, we never see the same one twice.  In contrast, we were made to live forever - but damaged and dying as we are now, we do not. And it is not pretty.  It's painful.  And not at all like the beautiful Maldivian sunset above.

Had a short Zoom visit to my new field service group on Saturday morning.  I am finding chatting in Zoom harder and harder now - unless it's one to one, which I can still just about do.   Col was out all day a'detecting in the rain, but was at home on Sunday, so I made a big effort and got to the Hall - by chauffeur. Mornings are so difficult now - and I have always been a morning person too!

I have noticed an interesting thing, that when I can get to the meetings my blood pressure is much lower.  (I am taking some measurements for my GP at the moment.)

And the root canal scheduled for Monday should put the bp up to machine-shattering proportions.  At any rate, it seems to have been done successfully - and I now have another long appointment to go through to get the post and crown fitted. I am hoping though there will not be as much drilling.

Hopefully he has done a very good job in that I have taken basic paracetamol doses - two yesterday and will take a couple more this morning, and no pain at all from the area of the tooth. The only problem is that everything else is sore, as spending all that time clenched up in the dentist's chair has not done the rest of my decrepit body any good.

However, I don't suppose his drilling away all my nerves while I was up  there would have been at all a good idea.

I am whinging away here, yet the world news is almost unspeakable in its horror.  The level of Epstein corruption seems to be spreading - with a headlines I cannot bear to read beyond...   

Surely the failure of human government must be evident by now?  So can that lead more and more of us, the damaged children of Adam, to come to find and serve the perfect government, the Kingdom of God.

Because the gift of life is so precious, so wonderful, so interesting - the planet earth is so lovely - and the universe in which we float is immense and beautiful beyond our comprehension.  Why would we ever want to leave it?