Thursday. 5.00 a.m. So, the usual time I take Alfie out, it's raining, although very light. I have to say, it is something of a relief, after the heat of the past couple of weeks. So much so that there are a few tiny snails along the path towards Oldbrook Green. I suppose they prefer it wet. Well, it bought them out of their shells, in the literal sense.
8.16 a.m. It would appear that the rain has stopped, although, looking out of my kitchen window (complete with the lovely hole in it, although not including the infamous extractor fan!) it's quite difficult to make out whether it is raining or not. My eyes play tricks on me, so it can appear to be raining, but it isn't. I can't explain it, but I think if you are expecting rain, your brain has a way of suggesting to you that it is.
3.45 p.m. The current temperature, according to the digital thermometer, is 25ºC. Definitely a far more pleasant temperature. It's also a good deal more overcast. No sign of rain.
Friday. 5.05 a.m. Here we are again. Another day dawns. It's mild. No sun. No rain. Just pleasant. I've been out already with Alfie, around Oldbrook Green. I'm intrigued to know why the grass has been cut and the loose grass removed. This doesn't seem to be a normal procedure. I am trying to think why they've done this, but I have no idea. It looks like a cricket pitch. Perhaps there's going to be some sort of event on the Green. Time will tell.
The current temperature on my digital thermometer reads 22ºC.
I have finished reading 'Les Misérables.' I've now read it twice, both in different translations. Some sections of the text are really heavy going. A great deal of it was excised from the stage musical but kept in the recent BBC television adaptation done by Andrew Davies. The musical lacks a narrator which makes comprehending the story to some extent, but I suppose, being what's called a 'sung-through' musical, you wouldn't expect to have a narrator. However, several of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's shows have a narrator, such as the character of Che in 'Evita.' It wasn't until I read the novel that I understood the relationship between certain characters, such as Thernadier, Eponine and Gavroche.
12.35 p.m. It's quite windy out, as I write this. I was considering going to the Grand Union Canal to do some more videoing, but the wind has put me off, so I will have to make the trip once the wind drops. It will make it difficult to do any sort of voice recording, which I can do with a lavalier microphone which clips onto my shirt and connects to my iPhone via Bluetooth.
3.55 p.m. I went out with Alfie, but I didn't get far, because it began to rain, so we came home. Just as well I didn't decide to go to the canal to do some videoing. Besides the rain, there was quite a strong wind, which would have made any filming virtually impossible and would have made the sound recording difficult.
The digital thermometer currently reads 22ºC, so things are cooler than last week.
Saturday. 6.35 a.m. I awoke from my slumbers at around 5.30. It wasn't really vital to my day, but I got myself together, dressed and took a somewhat reluctant Alfie out onto Oldbrook Green.
I am now reading 'Peterloo', by Jacqueline Riding, about the awful massacre of around 15 people in 1819, and the basis for the Mike Leigh film of the same name. It has surprising resonances with current history, the riots in France and even with events portrayed in 'Les Misérables.' It's an incident that I wasn't aware of before only a couple of years ago. You would imagine that, after a little over two-hundred years, things might have improved, but they haven't entirely. We do have open elections in this country, the old expression 'one man, one vote' etc. But not everything is as it should be. Read it if you don't know about this shocking incident, or watch the film. I have it on DVD, but I believe it's on Amazon Prime Video (I think Amazon may have funded it.) It certainly makes a change from stupid 'superhero' movies.
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