Nelson’s Blood

 

Nelson’s Blood

                                    Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Nelson’s Blood is Jackspeak for rum. Jackspeak is the slang that has developed over more than four hundred years in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. ‘Jack’ derives from Jack Tar, one of the nicknames for RN sailors.

So, why is rum called Nelson’s Blood? It has long been recounted that when Admiral Lord Nelson died at the Battle of Trafalgar, his body was preserved in a barrel of spirits, mixed with camphor and myrrh. In this way it was returned to England on HMS Victory, to lie in state in Greenwich before being incarcerated in St Paul’s Cathedral crypt.

The preserving spirit was brandy, not rum, but rum was the spirit introduced to the Royal Navy in 1655 as an alternative to beer, and water. Rum was unlikely to deteriorate and grow algae on long voyages. The daily rum ration, or tot, was distributed around midday, at ‘Up Spirits,’ to which a common response from the sailors was, ‘Stand fast the Holy Ghost.’

Though often referred to as Nelson’s Blood, rum is frequently called Pusser’s Rum. A pusser is naval slang for a purser, the crew member responsible for a ship’s logistics, and therefore the person accountable for supplying the daily tot. ‘Pusser’ implies exemplary service.

The legend of Nelson’s Blood is that sailors drilled holes in the barrel of spirits containing his body and drained off the liquid to drink!

In December 1969, just over three hundred years after the daily tot was instituted, the Admiralty became increasingly concerned that imbibing strong spirits at lunchtime was making it dangerous when sailors were operating complex onboard systems. The daily rum ration was about to become history. The final tot to the fleet was poured a few months later, on ‘Black Tot Day.’ Any remaining rum rations were auctioned off.

Nine years later, the Admiralty agreed to rum being created from the original Royal Navy recipe. It was called Pusser’s Rum. As part of the agreement, the Royal Navy Sailors’ Fund, now the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC), receives a donation from each sale.

Church spires

 

Church spires

Salisbury Cathedral, from the Bishop's Grounds, 1823, painted by John Constable  (1776-1837)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

We were discussing church spires recently. They were once prominent landmarks but now are frequently overshadowed by taller constructions.

They point the way to heaven and often house bells, whose clamour calls the faithful to worship.

The spire of Salisbury Cathedral has been the tallest in the United Kingdom since 1561, after the collapse of St Paul’s spire after a fire. In 2018, it gained attention in the press through being visited by two Russians, apparently on a sightseeing tour and wishing to see it for themselves. It transpired that they were military intelligence agents, intent on using Novichok to murder Sergei Skripal, a Russian double agent spying for Britain.

  Salisbury is one of only three cathedrals in the country that does not have a ring of bells.

There is more information here about the building, including the modern font of 2008 designed by William Pye.

Authors inspired by Salisbury Cathedral include Thomas Hardy, William Golding, and Ken Follett, among others. The great gothic building has also inspired artists including John Constable, J.M.W. Turner, Henry Moore, and Antony Gormley.

 

A spring-like day

Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Meteorological spring begins officially on Sunday 1^st March. As if to herald that auspicious day, Wednesday was sunny and mild. We opened the patio doors to our sitting room to listen to frenetic birds singing loudly, claiming their territory, challenging their peers.

Squirrels cavorted in the trees, chasing madly up and down the tree trunks, leaping from pathway to pathway along the naked oak tree branches.

The first butterflies were flitting about the shrubs. A bright flash and flittering of lemon yellow, the Brimstone butterflies (Gonepteryx rhamni) had emerged from their winter hibernation in the ivy or holly or brambles. It is the males that are so gaily decked out. The mates they hope to impress are more soberly dressed in greenish-white. They are long-lived, these harbingers of spring, enjoying a full twelve-month of life. They survive almost freezing temperatures with glycerin, a natural ‘anti-freeze,’ and by controlling the water in their bodies. While the warmth of a February sun tempts them from their lairs, a sudden drop in temperature can send them back to shelter.

 

In the uncertain days of early spring, Brimstones rely on nectar from early flowering shrubs and flowers, like pussy willow, primroses, or dandelions, though there are none of these producing anything at present for their sustenance in our garden.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It’s good to be alive!        

Live and learn

 

Live and learn

This is the first in an occasional series demonstrating new vocabulary, sourced through my daily playing of Polygon. When I have exhausted my personal dictionary, all too often woefully quickly, I turn to the solution.

Recently, I discovered ‘joual,’ which may be familiar to the Canadians among us, as it is a patois, a popular form of Canadian or Quebec French. Joual derives from the rural pronunciation of ‘cheval’ (horse) There is more information here.

In the same polygon, I came across ‘rucola,’ which some may already know as rocket or arugula. It is pungent and bursting with vitamin C and iron. I always assumed that common or salad rocket and wild rocket were the same animal, just grown in different ways. I discovered that they are quite distinct. 

Salad rocket (Eruca sativa) is an annual plant with a milder flavour. The flowers are white.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) is a perennial with a more intense piquancy. The leaves are narrower than common rocket and deeply serrated. The flowers are yellow.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Finally, I found turaco, which ornithologists will know is a bird found among the trees of sub-Saharan Africa. Their diet consists mainly of fruit, and, though they are weak flyers, they are adept at running and leaping, with unique semi-zygodactyl feet. This means that the fourth toe can move forwards or backwards, according to need, to enable them to maintain a firm grip on branches.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Apart from their beautiful colouring and intriguing calls, they are one of the few birds which have truly green feathers. The feathers contain a green pigment called turacoverdin.

Whether I retain any of this newly-acquired knowledge remains to be seen!

Hedgehogs

 

Hedgehogs

Gareth's hedgehog, left, was intended to be a money box. Susannah's, right, wasn't!

I don’t know whether clay modelling is still something that children do at school. I came across these dusty hedgehogs that my children made when they were about eight years old. I suspect they had the same class teacher, two years apart, and perhaps the study of hedgehogs or other small mammals was part of the curriculum. It was definitely before the advent of the Great Education Reform Bill of 1988, always called Gerbil, but officially labelled the Education Reform Act.

Gareth's hedgehog had a very prominent nose. Perhaps his teacher made much of the hedgehog's predation on insects, snails, frogs, mushrooms and other delicacies.

Susannah's hedgehog is altogether smoother and more streamlined.

Before the National Curriculum was established, teachers were freer to follow their own pursuits and interests, to go off at a tangent. This worked well for those who still felt that children should be ’well grounded’ in the basics, the well-known Three Rs, but were able to interest their classes in other things. I well remember one seven-year-old excitedly telling her mother, ‘Mrs Cooke made fog!’

Anyway, the little hedgehogs my son and daughter made were brought home proudly to be displayed. My son’s work of art was intended to be a money box, with a slot in the top. Whether that was his idea or the whole class was encouraged to make money boxes, I don’t know. When his younger sister made hers, it did not benefit from a slot.

We used to see hedgehogs in the garden from time to time, but I haven’t seen one for an exceptionally long time. Our Jack Russell, Daisy, used to find one occasionally and come in covered in fleas. That was almost forty years ago. Fortunately, hedgehog fleas don’t survive on anything other than hedgehogs.

I’ve just found out that there are seventeen species of hedgehogs, though there are none in Australia and none now living in the Americas. New Zealand hedgehogs are an introduced species, as they are in the Outer Hebridean islands of Benbecula and North Uist.

They are distantly related to the much smaller shrews. Although their prickly spines are usually brown, the hedgehogs of Alderney, in the Channel Islands, are blonde.

In Britain, the population of rural hedgehogs has declined rapidly since 2000.

Substitutions

 

Substitutions

My grocery order has just been delivered, and it had some substitutions, which were quite acceptable. The young man helpfully holding up the crate so that I could transfer the contents to a bag – I always regard it as a weight-training exercise, which gets easier as the items are removed – told me that most of the substitutions are usually quite reasonable. Sometimes, though, they beggar belief, and bear little or no relation to the requested item. For example, one customer had ordered bread, but it wasn’t available and it had been replaced with tomato ketchup. What was the thought sequence there? Bread for sandwiches for cheese for pickle for ketchup . . .

Questions then arise about the state of mind of the employee whose job it is to select items for a customer’s list. These staff members are variously called Online Pickers, Online Assistants, Retail Assistants, or Personal Shoppers.

Everyone has off-days or lapses in concentration and I can well imagine how strange or unusual substitutions can be made occasionally. Lemon bleach for lemons?

It’s raining . . .

 

It’s raining . . .

It’s raining, it’s pouring,
The old man is snoring;
He went to bed
And he banged his head.
Ane he couldn’t get up
In the morning.

(Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.)

This nursery rhyme is American in origin and was first published in 1912. One suggestion is that the first line is a metaphor for a liberal outpouring of alcohol.The ‘old man’ bumping his head is a consequence of inebriation. 

The second  couplet in brackets is something I've always added when singing with children. 

Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, ‘Rain,’ is sweet and simple and was included in ‘A Child’s Garden of Verses,’ first published in 1885.

The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

        `
                                               

Dusting

 

Dust if you must

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need? 

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read:
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,

Old age will come and it’s not kind.

And when you go (and go you must)

You, yourself, will make more dust.

Rose Milligan (first published in September 1998 in ‘The Lady.’)

Rose Milligan was born in Yorkshire, but later moved to Lancaster, Lancashire, where she indulged her love of fell-walking. She died in 1994, leaving behind friends and a loving family, including great-great-grandchildren.

For those who are driven to dust – that is, the act of dusting, AI says:

Yes, regular dusting is essential for health and home maintenance. It removes allergens like dust mites, pet dander, and pollen that cause respiratory issues, while also preventing the buildup of harmful indoor chemical contaminants. Dusting improves indoor air quality, protects furniture from damage, and stops dust from attracting more dust. 

Hopeless

 

Hopeless

Flat-faced houses look out
On strangers passing by;
The pavement feet away,
The road beyond.

A bus trundles past,
Indifferent passengers
Gaze, glassy-eyed,
Noting nothing.

A to B,
B to C;
Endless journey,
Soulless.

Drugs, poverty,
Despair, fear;
No job, no hope,
No life.

No-one is above the law . . .

 

No-one is above the law . . .

 . . . and so, today, on his 66^th birthday, the former Duke of York has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

It’s not a very pleasant birthday present.

A visit to the hospital

 

A visit to the hospital

Jellicoe and Herschel

When Jellicoe visited the vet recently for a regular check-up, it transpired that he, too, has a heart murmur, like his brother. Additionally, a biopsy of the cyst that had reappeared on his head indicated that it was malignant and he would have to go to an animal hospital for treatment.

This morning Barry took him to Aura, the animal hospital in Guildford. As we were not sure whether the consultation would lead to an immediate surgical procedure, Jellicoe was only allowed a token breakfast, a quarter of his usual ration, because, as a diabetic cat, he must have insulin injections regularly. He was not happy and kept miaouing and following me for more food.

The outcome was that he has to return tomorrow for an echocardiogram before an operation next week. This is to ensure that he is fit enough for surgery, just as happens with human surgical procedures.

Many pet insurers have raised their cover to £25,000, but ours tops out at £12,000. Veterinary medicine is now so sophisticated that £12,000 is soon swallowed up in tests.

We are looking at alternative providers. Roxy and the cats are probably too old to transfer, although Jellicoe is the only one with pre-conditions, but Gilbert is still a young lad.

Chinese New Year 2026

 

Chinese New Year 2026

Chinese Zodiac carvings on the ceiling of the Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin)

Kung Hei Fat Choi (Cantonese)

Both of these salutations and their variations mean ‘Congratulations and may you be prosperous.’

Chinese New Year will be celebrated from February 17^th to 3^rd March this year. It ushers in the Year of the Horse, specifically the Fire Horse, bidding farewell to the Year of the Wood Snake.

There are twelve animals represented in the Chinese Zodiac in a sequence that is repeated every five years, meaning that sixty years elapse before a repetition of a particular element.

Thanks to Bendigo Joss House Temple for the following information.

The five elements applied to each animal in the zodiac are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The sequence of these elements is important and set. Wood makes fire burn, fire creates earth, earth brings forth metal, metal runs water, and water makes wood grow.

Based on your animal these are considered to be your key traits:

Rat: Intelligent, adaptable, quick-witted, charming, artistic, sociable.

• Ox: Loyal, reliable, thorough, strong, reasonable, steady, determined.
• Tiger: Enthusiastic, courageous, ambitious, leadership, confidence, charismatic.
• Rabbit: Trustworthy, empathic, modest, diplomatic, sincere, sociable, caretakers, sensitive.
• Dragon: Lucky, flexible, eccentric, imaginative, artistic, spiritual, charismatic.
• Snake: Philosophical, organised, intelligent, intuitive, elegant, attentive, decisive.
• Horse: Adaptable, loyal, courageous, ambitious, intelligent, adventurous, strong.
• Sheep: Tasteful, crafty, warm, elegant, charming, intuitive, sensitive, calm.
• Monkey: Quick-witted, charming, lucky, adaptable, bright, versatile, lively, smart.
• Rooster: Honest, energetic, intelligent, flamboyant, flexible, diverse, confident.
• Dog: Loyal, sociable, courageous, diligent, steady, lively, adaptable, smart.
• Pig: Honourable, philanthropic, determined, optimistic, sincere, sociable.

Your associated element contributes the following traits:

Wood: Exceptionally gifted, idealists and planners

• Water: Sympathetic, perfectionist, coordinator
• Fire: Courageous, passionate, good at research
• Earth: Kindness, tolerant, honest, leader
• Metal: Determined, persistent, workaholic, manager

Bearing in mind the lucky cat with its waving paw, why is there no cat in the Chinese zodiac?

Cats are native to Egypt and were not known in China when the Chinese Zodiac was devised about four thousand years ago. They only appeared two thousand years later, introduced via the Silk Routes.

Despite this, there are legends about the absence of a cat in the calendar. Two of them mention the Jade Emperor, ruler of Heaven and Earth. He resolved to make life easier for his people by giving them a calendar to organise their lives. He thought he would name the twelve months after animals, but could not think which were the worthiest, so decided to hold a race across the river. The first twelve to arrive at his palace, on the opposite riverbank, would become the animals of the zodiac.

Naturally, all the animals were extremely excited, and longed to win such a great honour from the Emperor. At that time Rat and Cat were great friends, and thought they would enter the race together. When they saw the deep, raging waters of the river, they were distraught, knowing they were not strong enough to swim across without assistance. They were clever little animals and picked out a big strong ox, who would barely notice their slight weight on his broad back. Of course, being polite as well as cunning, they sought his permission and Ox, a pleasant sort of fellow, readily agreed to carry them.

Ox lumbered into the current and started to swim. As he neared the bank, Rat saw the Jade Emperor on the shore and thought, ‘If Cat were not on Ox’s back, Ox could swim faster and then I would reach the palace first, and I really want to be first.’ So, he pushed Cat off into the wild, white water.

As Ox was almost ready to trudge ashore, certain he would be the first animal to grace the zodiac, Rat leapt off his back and ran helter-skelter to the Emperor, who congratulated him roundly and placed him first. Ox was second, but he was just pleased to be there – position meant little to him.

Cat later struggled ashore, half-drowned, and too late to be given a position on the calendar. That is why, to this day, cats and rats are sworn enemies.

A less thrilling story relates that Cat and Rat were good friends, and wanted to race across the river to the Jade Emperor’s palace. Rat agreed to wake Cat in time for the start of the race, but he did not keep his promise, and so Cat missed the race altogether. No wonder cats and rats loathe each other!

 

Solar power

 

Solar power

One day recently Barry was doing something vehicular when he was approached by a young Chinese woman from Hong Kong. She was attempting to persuade people to install solar roof panels. Barry politely declined, explaining his reasons, then continued chatting to her. He has collaborated with Chinese people on many occasions in different countries and told her he admired their work ethic. She replied, ‘Yes, no benefits.’

As she departed to try her luck with others along our road, she handed him a solar-powered ‘Good Luck’ cat ornament. In direct light, it waves its left paw ceaselessly.

In Chinese culture, the left side is perceived as fortunate, associated with honour and higher status, except for left-handedness, which is considered abnormal or weird. Left-handed children were traditionally made to use their right hands for writing, just as they were in many other cultures. UK teachers stopped trying to force left-handers to be right-handed as recently as the 1970s.

The ‘lucky cat’ sits in our conservatory, inanely waving its left paw throughout the daylight hours. Neither of us appreciates its smug expression and endless movement, and we have decided that the first child to express a liking for it can take it home.

Delving a little further, in an unsuccessful attempt to decipher the Chinese characters on the cat, I discovered that the lucky cat’s origins began in Japan in the seventeenth century. The maneki-neko or ‘beckoning cat’ was depicted as a Japanese Calico (black, white, and orange) Bob-tail. Now they come in many colours.

White is for purity and positivity, black is to fend off evil, red is for good health, and yellow or gold for wealth. Any touches of pink are for romance. The gold bell or coin at its neck also symbolises wealth.

I think ‘our’ cat has the lot, though it is principally white!

The Calcutta Cup

 

The Calcutta Cup

                                    A quaich - the two handles are called lugs.

The Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy awarded to the winner of England versus Scotland in the Rugby Six Nations Championship.

The other trophies in the Six Nations Championship are the Millennium Trophy, won by the winner of the match played between England and Ireland, the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy for the winner of the France-Italy match, the Doddie Weir cup for Scotland-Wales, the Auld Alliance Trophy, which goes to the victor of the France-Scotland competition, and the Cuttitt Cup for Italy-Scotland. The Centenary Quaich goes to the Ireland-Scotland winners.

A quaich is a Gaelic shallow drinking cup with two handles. It is often called the cup of friendship or loving cup and originated in the Highlands as a drinking cup for whisky or brandy. Originally, they were made from wood, but can now be designed in sterling silver or pewter as well as wood. Some even have glass bottoms so that the drinkers, can see each other, or, in a double glass base, hold a lock of hair from a loved one. The two handles ensure that both hands are used to hold the vessel, thus ensuring that no-one can hold a weapon at the same time, and symbolising trust between the giver and the receiver. They often feature at Scottish wedding ceremonies.

Twenty-eight minutes after the start of the match the score was Scotland 24 to England 10. ‘Flower of Scotland’ rang around the stadium. At this point, I wondered how much more of the match we would be seeing, as complaints and criticism poured forth from the once-upon-a-time rugby player I live with. ‘Schoolboy errors,’ ‘What are they up to?’ ‘I’ve seen better play from clubs,’ and ‘Lack of discipline,’ are some of the politer comments.

Some of the commentators amused me. ‘Get your heads in there, sacrifice your ears.’ 

Two yellows and a red card for the England team before the end of the first half and the match was turned off. Oh, dear!

We then turned to the Ireland-Italy match. This was adjudged ‘much better.’ Thank goodness for that, though I wish Italy had won. It’s their turn for glory, surely.

Widdershins

 

Widdershins

The Three Witches from Macbeth: Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, 1781 (Mary Hoare, 1744-1820)

Thinking again about anti-clockwise and counter-clockwise, I remembered ‘widdershins, which has the same meaning as anti-clockwise, but with a little magic and mystery mixed in with superstition.

The period in Britain, from about 410 to 1066 used to be called the Dark Ages, not because they were evil or nothing happened, but because there were few written records. Modern historians are more likely now to use terms like Sub-Roman or Early Middle Ages.

However they are referred to, it was thought unlucky in those times in the west to walk widdershins round a church or a cauldron. Witches were believed to move in this way to strengthen their spells, or to gain entry to the fairy kingdom.

The opposite to widdershins is deosil, or ‘sunwise.’

In some religions it is customary for processions to travel counter-clockwise.

I think it’s an attractive word, which rolls easily off the tongue. There are not many circumstances in which it can be used, however!

 

 

 

Floaters

 

Floaters

Image source

Small, dark specks in the eyes that slip away before one can focus on them are a common occurrence. Usually, they become less noticeable as one becomes accustomed to them and able to ignore them.

They are caused by the vitreous gel in the eye shrinking and clumping as it ages, throwing shadows on the retina. They do not require treatment, though they can be annoying.

However, if there is a sudden, dramatic increase in the number of floaters, particularly if combined with flashes of light, professional advice should be sought. If a dark ‘curtain’ appears to descend across the eye, urgent help is required, as this may indicate a retinal detachment. If untreated this may lead to blindness.

The Spider in Barry's Eye caused some excitement in 2011.

Co-Enzyme Q10

 

Co-Enzyme Q10

                                                Image source

Knocking on, as we are, we need all the help we can get to maintain our goal of living healthy lives well into our century and a half (but only as long as we are still compos mentis and able to propel ourselves from A to B and possibly C.)

Following the advice of a very helpful young doctor, who said Co-Enzyme Q10 was the only supplement she used and endorsed, (and who was about to leave our benighted practice for greener pastures a couple of miles away) Barry set about ordering the very product from the supplier she had recommended.

All went well, until the order failed to arrive. The supplier insisted it had been dispatched, but the courier denied all knowledge of it. Queries to the supplier went unanswered, and much time and temper was wasted. Eventually, the credit card company was informed, which is never a good outcome for a supplier, the money was reimbursed and the search commenced for another supplier.

Success!

So, what is it and what does it do?

From the British Heart Foundation:

CoQ10 has an important role in helping your cells produce energy. It may also act as an antioxidant, which means it can help reduce inflammation and keep your blood vessels healthy. 

Under certain circumstances, such as ageing, statin use and heart failure, it is thought that your body’s production of CoQ10 may slow down, and the amount in a normal diet may not be enough to provide what you need.

Statins reduce the amount of cholesterol your liver makes. They do this by blocking a chain of chemical reactions in your body’s cells which is needed to make cholesterol. This same chain of reactions is also used to produce CoQ10. So, taking statins may lead to lower levels of CoQ10. 

Now we wait to see if we’re suddenly imbued with more energy. The years will drop away!

MOT

 

MOT

Red pyracantha by our front door

It was time for the MOT and annual service of our nineteen-year-old car, so we drove it to the local garage and left it there yesterday. This morning, the garage called to inform us that the car was ready to be picked up so off we trotted to collect it.

Struggling to survive

As we were about to leave, I was shocked to notice the parlous condition of the large pyracantha bush between the dining room window and the garage door. At least a third of it had dropped its leaves and there was little evidence of new growth on a normally vigorous evergreen shrub.

 I don’t know why I didn’t notice it yesterday morning. Possibly the rain concentrated my attention on getting into the dog box out of the driving wetness.

Not long for this world, I fear.

Anyway, there is much work to be done on hacking back what remains of the plant and hoping it recovers its usual glory. We planted it many years ago, and it is possible that it has outlived its span. The birds will have to feast on others of our pyracanthas. Strangely, they never seem to sample the bush by the front door, which is full of fat red berries, or the yellow-berried one at the foot of the drive.

I wonder if exhaust fumes from the car parked by the bush has contributed to its sorry state, though it seems strange that it should suddenly be affected after all these years.

Anti-clockwise tracks

 

Anti-clockwise tracks

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons 

We haven’t watched all of the Winter Olympics, but did see Lindsey Vonn airlifted off the slopes after her dreadful crash. The delay as she was attended to must have been nerve-racking for competitors waiting to make their bid for Olympic honour. It was mesmerising to watch them visualising the track and making graceful movements with their hands and arms as they rehearsed the downhill course they were to follow.

We watched quite a lot of curling. There’s something very appealing about a sport that is not dynamic, but measured and somehow peaceful.

Ice hockey is fast and furious and something I privately call ‘ice brawling.’

Speed skating is graceful and powerful, but as the men, with their enormous thighs, glided at speed (can you glide at speed?) round the ice rink, I wondered why racing tracks always run anti-clockwise.

The answer seems to be that it has always been thus. When Roman charioteers raced, they held their swords in their right hands. Most people are right-handed, so to run counter-clockwise means that the stronger right leg can cope more efficiently with curves.

Once standardised, it became impossible – and inconvenient - to change the arrangement. It seems a little unfair to left-handers, though. Question: How many of the great track runners in the world have been left-handed?

The same does not hold true for horse-racing, however, and there are many famous clockwise courses in the UK, including Ascot and Goodwood.

Progress

 

Progress

The amaryllis flowers are going over now, but meanwhile the two bulbs I planted on January 11^th are making progress. The one in the sitting room is growing steadily, almost visibly, but the conservatory bulb is sleepy and has barely started, so I’ve moved it to join its friend.

Allowing for six weeks to pass before flowering happens, we can hope for flowers just after St Valentine’s Day, and then, possibly, more in early March from the sleepy bulb.

What an exciting life I lead!

 

Air bags

 

Air bags

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

We are all familiar with air bags in cars and how they inflate on impact. It came as news to me that competitive skiers wear inflatable devices beneath their competitors’ bibs. They are also used by cyclists, equestrians, and motor cyclists. They protect head, spine, chest, and hips.

Bearing in mind that the Six Nations Rugby Union Championship is currently taking place – and happily, considering that Italy is hosting the Winter Olympics, Italy beat a dismal Scotland on Saturday – we fell to wondering how rugby players would fare in a normal rugby match, wearing protection on head, neck, spine, legs, arms. We concluded that by the end of a match, most, if not all of the players would be waddling around like Michelin men.

It is possible for ordinary citizens to buy a ‘Wearable Anti-fall Airbag Vest,’ or a hip guard, or a ‘Fall Protection Airbag Vest,’ (for the autumn of your life?) . . . I was amazed to discover just how many variations there are. The question is, once deployed, does the air bag have to be disposed of and replaced?

I looked it up and the answer is that they are reusable, provided they have not been damaged. The C02 or Argon cartridge is easily replaced and the whole system can be reset in minutes.

How long will it be before ‘seniors’ are urged to equip themselves with ‘personal safety apparel’ to accompany their call alarms, grab bars, ‘walk in baths’ and stair lifts?