Is anything worse than Brexit? The foul odour of cigarette smoke perhaps?...No. An infestation of cockroaches?...No. The Bubonic Plague?...No. A round of golf with Donald J. Trump?...No. An earthquake? A tsunami? Global warming?...No.No.No. But Hull City getting thumped by Brentford F.C.? Yes, for sure, that is a hell of a lot worse than Brexit.
I was there in the Saturday sunshine. At Griffin Park, Brentford.. When Fraizer Campbell nodded in the first goal all was well in the world but it was a false dawn. We ended up losing by five goals to one and what is more Brentford deserved their victory. As the players trooped off and as I contemplated suicide, I felt like applauding the Brentford team. They had cut through our defence like a hot knife through butter.
I trudged back to Gunnersbury tube station, remembering that only three hours before I had walked that same route in reverse.
I had consumed my petrol station lunch at a picnic table by The River Thames, reading a couple of chapters of "The Tattooist of Auschwitz". It was so warm. Was this really February? In the last few days, England has recorded the highest February temperatures of all time.
 |
| Channel between Brenford Ait and Lot's Ait |
Just across from where I was sitting, out in the river - there was an "ait". In fact it was Brenford Ait. Until Saturday, I had never heard of the term "ait". It means an island in a river. Brentford Ait is a low-lying wooded island and it's close to Lot's Ait.
Along the Thames Path, I met The Birdman of Brentford. He was doing what he claims to do every day of the year - feeding gulls. He threw chunks of bread in the air and the acrobatic creatures swooped to win them from the rest of the gang. It was quite a scene though it all happened so quickly that I had trouble capturing the activity with my trusty camera.
That night we met up with Ian and visited "The Punjab" - an historical Indian restaurant near Covent Garden. We had to queue up before admission was allowed. It was a delightful, authentic meal and of course it was nice to have my family together again. However, a dark cloud hung over the dining experience. Was it Brexit?...No. It was Brentford F.C. 5 Hull City A.F.C. 1.
Not happy with the football result by any chance?
ReplyDeleteYou are good at reading between the lines. Women are well known for their intuition.
DeleteFor heaven's sake. It's just a game.
ReplyDeleteAs Bill Shankly said, "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that."
DeleteGlad you are enjoying your stay in sunny London, football scores apart.
ReplyDeleteWe're back in paradise now - Yorkshire.
Delete;)
DeleteServo sandwiches and a book about Auschwitz would be enough to depress a sunflower or a daffodil!
ReplyDeleteI like your gull photos and I like Indian food so all is not lost :)
Well I have never heard the term, "servo sandwiches"! You have taught me something today miss.
DeleteIf I am right and some of us just did not get the sports gene then I think it's possible that you got mine. I have none, you have a double portion.
ReplyDeleteIn the tiny village where I grew up there was a man who fed the gulls on the river we lived near every day. I still remember.
I am not sure if bread is any good for gulls but they seem to like it. Oh and thanks for your genes.
DeleteI'm sure that the sun will shine again! There's something not right about feeding gulls!
ReplyDeleteThey are supposed to be seaside creatures yet London is forty miles from the sea.
Deletethe mistake is to call them seagulls. They are just plain gulls. We are far inland and have a huge population of breeding gulls in the summer. some gulls stay until all water is frozen.
DeleteOh my. Such hyperbole!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of an "ait" either -- except in Morocco, where "Ait" is often a prefix in the name of a Berber village, meaning "People of" or "Clan of." The town I used to live in, for example, was called "Ait Baha," or people of Baha. (Whoever he was!)
Baha means bone anchored hearing aid. I guess there is a lot of deafness in Morocco.
DeleteI'm with Ms Moon - I just didn't get the sports gene, and someone else has more than their share as a result :)
ReplyDeleteAt least you recognize the skill of the other team and that is a fair thing to do.
If you didn't get the sports gene Jenny - what did you get instead? Perhaps the poetry gene?
DeleteIt's been very woeful of me...I'm only now catching up on reading blogs. Much has been on my mind of late, turning it - my mind - akin to a can of hyperactive worms!
ReplyDeleteSorry your team got thumped, Yorkie...but I'm sure they'll get up, dust themselves off and go forth like the warriors they are, and win the next battle. :)
And they did on Tuesday night Lee. Sorry to hear your woes continue Lee.
Delete