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| At Kućište today - typical Croatian scene |
This morning I put my walking boots on and marched west - four miles along the peninsula. Shirley was happy just to veg out by the hotel pool with a book.
I stopped two or three times to read more chapters of "Beloved" by Toni Morrison. I am finding it hard going. It's not the kind of novel you race through.
At one of my shady stops I was joined by a thin fellow from New Jersey. He had just got off a motor launch.
"No. Go ahead."
"Say. Where are you from?"
"I'm from Yorkshire. Yorkshire, England."
And that was his invitation to hammer home half-formed views about Brexit. He wanted to say something along the lines of - We've got Trump but your shit is worse buddy! No nice questions or remarks about family, pastimes, music, the meaning of life or the loveliness of Croatia - just straight into Brexit like a bird of prey. Quite annoying really. Perhaps he didn't realise that he had rudely interrupted my reading.
After ten minutes he got into a black Mercedes people carrier and was whisked away with his holiday companions. I was glad to see the back of him but I waved anyway. I suspect his name was Dick.
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| View from our room on Thursday evening |
It wasn't the loveliest walk I have ever plodded but it was nice to be right next to the sea, burning off calories. I found a small village supermarket in which I bought a bottle of Diet Coke, an orange and a curly sausage roll. This was my lunch and soon I was walking back in the direction I had come from.
Back at the hotel it was time to swim - both in the sea and the pool. I fell asleep briefly on the white sunlounger and then came up to our room to polish up a short story I have been working on for an annual competition that is held in Sheffield. One thousand words is not very many.
Meanwhile our daughter Frances is now on the island of Hvar about thirty miles from here. It is a long weekend office getaway beano and she is there with fifteen work colleagues - all paid for by her company. That kind of thing never happens to schoolteachers.
Finally - a mummy cat and her four kittens in the hotel grounds. They have attracted a lot of happy attention from guests:-
Looks lovely I'm back in Spain ( alone) on Monday x
ReplyDeleteI hope the weather over there will have improved by Monday.
DeleteSome people just want to engage in conversation in order to hear their own voice. I hope I am not one of them.
ReplyDeleteLook at the lovely little kittens! Which one are you taking home?
Mary. I am taking Mary home. She's the sweet one with the sharp claws.
DeleteThe kittens are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat is a rare moon, Mr. Pudding. It is a full moon and a harvest moon (as we Yanks call it) but it is rare in that it is extremely small as it is very far away as the moon goes and we are seeing the back side of what we usually see when there is a full moon. There is a name for this phenomenon but I can't remember it.
I am happy that someone else has struggled a bit through "Beloved". I have just finished "Small Great Things" by Jodi Picoult. Wonderful!
Tell Dick that you and your country have enough problems without his input. Better yet, tell him and anybody remotely like him to go f*^k themselves.
Ha-ha! Coarse Yanks may speak to annoying people in that blunt manner but cultured English gentlemen (like the author of this blog) are more likely to remark, "I say old chap, would you mind toddling along? Your company has suddenly become quite tiresome."
DeleteSorry to hear that you ran into a mouthy American that couldn't be polite and keep his opinion to himself. Unfortunately there are a few of those around but I assure you we are not all like that.
ReplyDeleteI love the shot of the moon, as PT said it is a special micro harvest moon. It also is rare to have one on Friday the 13th. Love the cats!
I know that Missouri folk are far more civilised than those roughneck Noo Joizey dwellers.
DeleteThose kittens and their mama are adorable - thanks for that picture, YP.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason for the advice to never discuss politics or religion in light conversation :) Too bad not everybody got the memo.
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ReplyDeleteOh! Those cats are so beautiful.
DeleteI'm sick to death of hearing about, reading about politics...from here, there...and from everywhere! We need a break from hearing about politics; and of all the endless negativity. It all goes around and around and around...and back again, and again...and again....ad infinitum! It matters not who is in power.
I'm not being like an emu - with my head stuck in the sand/ground...but these days I prefer to devote my precious time to more pleasant subjects...not on things about which I have absolutely no control. I'm sick to death of doom and gloom.
I might just head off to the sea to see if it has all the right answers for me...wave upon wave of them.
Time to look on the bright side...
Typo alert! Hence the "Delete"...and repost!
For a moment I thought you had deleted the original comment because it was full of swear words. Real life carries on in spite of politics. By the way if you expect answers from the sea you will be waiting a hell of a long time.
DeleteYour mind certainly does work in mysterious ways, Yorkie. However, it is not for me to question the reasons why!
DeleteWhat have I done to warrant such a thought? Have I ever, in the past, filled my responses to your posts with swear words?
Well, that was rude of him. But those of us from the USA know how you feel. We've put up with the worlds rude opinions of our leaders and our health care joke for years, not that the current administration doesn't deserve it. Still, if an apology will help, I offer one.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to apologise for your countryman Lisa. We have got assholes in England too - plenty of them.
DeleteThere's always one who has all the opinions and the "right" answers, isn't there! You are to be commended on your excellent gentlemanly demeanour YP !
ReplyDeleteStrange how so many foreigners have the answer to the UK's Brexit woes !
My gentlemanly demeanour is like a suit of armour. Why can't people talk about things that matter like stars in the sky, rainbows and the taste of fresh, sweet peaches? Brexit is a horrible thing - like donkey poo.
DeleteGreat photos as usual. That moon looks just like ours!
ReplyDeleteI must be one of the few people who are not that keen on kittens. When I come across any felines they seem to sense my antipathy and make a beeline straight for me.
Only bees make a beeline Jackie. Kittens make a kittenline. Do you eat a lot of fish?
DeleteIt could have been nervous gabbling. Never forget how impressive Yorkshire people are.
ReplyDeleteMost of us are impressive Tasker but some are like nervous whippets, cowering in the corner.
DeleteThe minute you said the chap was from NJ, I knew there would not be a happy story line. :)
ReplyDelete(Not trying to offend anyone from NJ, but this dude clearly fits the loud-mouth NJ stereotype.)
Which state are you from Mary? I forget.
DeleteMay I just say that all of the photographs in your Croatia vacation posts are excellent, impressive, phenomenal even. Is the light different there?
ReplyDeleteAlso, in the interest of accuracy, I want to correct Peace Thyme's assertion upthread about this month's full moon that "it is rare in that it is extremely small as it is very far away as the moon goes and we are seeing the back side of what we usually see when there is a full moon". The first part of what she said is correct (the moon's orbit is an oval, not a circle, and has an apogee and a perigee) but the latter part is incorrect. We are not seeing the back side of what we usually see when there is a full moon. We are seeing what we always see when there is a full moon; it is merely farther away in its elliptical orbit. The moon always keeps the same side toward the earth because its time of rotation matches the time of its orbit (about 29 days).
Carry on, Neil. I'll be in the area all day.
Thank you for the explanation Bob. I had always understood that we only ever see the same side of the moon. If you want to experience The Dark Side of the Moon you must listen to the album of that name by Pink Floyd. In honour of your astronomical input I shall name one of the cute kittens after you. Bob is the one with his back turned to the camera.
DeleteDamn Americans! Why do we have so many Dicks?
ReplyDeleteYou had Dick Nixon, Dick Chaney, Dick Van Dyke and now you got Dick Trump! Plenty of Dicks.
DeleteNot sure where you'd go on holiday these days to get away from Politics...
ReplyDeleteRockall - the most isolated island in The British Isles.
DeleteHaving lived (briefly) in New Jersey, I am not at all surprised by your encounter. :)
ReplyDeleteLove those kittens! Great photo!