Jam Yesterday, Jam Tomorrow, But Never Jam Today

Friday. 1.40 a.m. Yet another case of nothing being able to sleep. Never mind. I can always find something to keep myself busy, such as washing up, tidying the kitchen, sorting out the recycling and tying up the bags to take to the bin room. I did my Bible reading, which is 'Through The Bible In A Year, with Nicky Gumble.' I do this on my iPad. Then I feel hungry, and so I made several pieces of toast and had a really nice Lidl raspberry conserve on it. (Conserve, having a higher percentage of fruit in it than jam.) And far better value than other brands.

10.40 a.m. It's a bit overcast and dull. Where has the sun gone? I can hear the wind, making wind-like noises (!) The sort of whistling, yet not whistling noise. The sort of wind you'd expect in a rather clichéd production of 'Wuthering Heights.' You know what I mean, at least, I imagine you do, with Kathy outside and shouting to be let in, in the middle of a moor somewhere in Yorkshire. Sad, really, but very corny and the acting is somewhat over-the-top. Melodramatic.

2.30 p.m. I was about to take Alfie out at around 1 p.m, only to discover that it was pouring rain, so we only went out fleetingly. As I write this, the wind continues to howl around the building.

Saturday. 5.50 p.m. Where did the rest of the day go? Well, it began early, with me taking Alfie as usual around 5.00 a.m. We didn't do our usual circuit of Oldbrook Green, but I had all the recycling and rubbish bagged up and ready to take out to the bins. Washing up done and the kitchen tidied.

We had our monthly men's breakfast at the Oaktree Centre this morning. I thought it started at 8 o'clock, so I was there bright and early. There was nobody else waiting, so I sat in the car, listening to Classic FM, with the overture to 'The Flying Dutchman' blaring out of the car radio. I was listening as I drove up Chaffron Way, and, although I'm not a keen Wagner fan, it was very motivational, so I had to sit and listen to it in the car park outside the Oaktree Centre.  I have to admit, I was wondering if I had the day or the time wrong, but then Richard, who organizes the men's breakfast, arrived, with a load of what looked like bread rolls. The building was locked, so we had to wait for someone to come and open the place up.

A couple arrived to do the cooking of the food. They set up two gas-fired barbecue pans and proceeded to fry sausages and bacon. 

The group began to arrive and it turned out that it wasn't supposed to start at the usual time of 8 o'clock but an hour later at 9, which I didn't know.

We ate our bacon, eggs and sausage and drank tea (or coffee) and then we had a talk from someone who used to be involved with S.C.F., on advanced driving, which was very informative and instructive. 

I was planning to go to the history festival at Milton Keynes Museum directly after the men's breakfast, but, because it concluded later than expected, I decided to leave it until Sunday. As a result, and because I didn't want to be cooped up in the flat all Saturday, I drove into the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre and had a browse and went into John Lewis as I'm looking for a cable which would allow me to link certain peripherals to my iPhone, iPad and MacBook because Apple has changed the ports from lightening to Thunderbolt/USB 4. I didn't find what I was looking for, unfortunately. I may end up going to the Apple Store to find what I want, but, being a Saturday, the store is likely to be very busy, so I decided to leave it for another day.

I walked through the shopping centre and went to Waterstone's and purchased two books, one on 'How To Be a Victorian,' and the other about 'Peterloo.'

Sunday. 12.45 p.m. My goodness! What's going on? The sun is shining and it's really bright. Almost (Note: I said 'almost'!) like spring!

Came out of church early. Miss having my usual cup of tea, so that I could be ready to go to Milton Keynes Museum for the history festival. There were just TWO spare spaces in the church car park! 

My friend Nick (hello Nick, if you're reading this!) was coming over to Milton Keynes from Northampton on the bus so that we could go to the history festival at Milton Keynes Museum. At around 1.30, he texted me to say he was at the centre, so I drove in and he was waiting near The Point. We drove to the museum and managed to park, although the car park was very full and there were few spaces. Luckily I managed to find a place.

Because I had been to the museum some months ago, and paid and kept the ticket, I was able to enter, free. I have a few months left on the card, so I can go again. Today's history festival covered a vast timescale, from around the time of the Romans, the Medieval period right up to the time of the Suffragettes. There was a gladiator fight (quite scary) as well as a knight's battle from the time of the Wars of The Roses. 

We went into the café and had tea. I was ready for a drink, as by now I was thirsty. Then we went into the main museum building, which was the farmhouse, built in C.1840, at the time well before Milton Keynes was built. We learnt about the railway and Wolverton's part in the history of the railway in the mid-19th century.  We saw a display of Victorian music boxes, a pianola and a gadget which displayed photographs stereoscopically, When we emerged from that exhibition it was time to leave. I took Nick back to the bus stop in the city centre and said goodbye. There is to be a Victorian history festival in June, so no doubt I will be attending that and possibly Nick will come over from Northampton.

Monday. 4.05 p.m. I have done all the usual walks with Alfie and when I took him out at around 5.20 a.m. there was broken glass along the path leading to Oldbrook Green, which some delightful person felt it necessary to drop in our path. Fortunately, I avoided it before Alfie got his feet cut and I moved it out of the way. Not just his feet, but it would have punctured the tyres of anyone cycling along that stretch of path.

I went out, alone this time, with the gimbal and noticed a blue tractor cutting the grass, which I haven't seen before. I think it would be a good deal quicker than the usual mowers they use for this job. I got the gimbal set correctly and the results were a good deal better I have got the video to work on my iPad.

The Rain it raineth every day

The weather has been absolutely awful for the past couple of days. Rain, wind and now the possibility of snow. Actually it has been quite a mild winter up until now. So mild, intact, that I've actually seen new growth, almost like the first signs of spring. I'm not sure whether this is correct, but not what you would expect to see in late January. No doubt if we do get snow and a really hard frost it will kill off any of this greenery.

The title for this post seemed so appropriate, considering the amount of rain we've been having recently. The line comes from one of my favourite plays by Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, and is one of Feste's songs. The first verse from which the quote comes from is as follows:

When that I was a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.

I suppose it's not so surprising that he uses weather so much as a metaphor in his plays because in this country our weather plays such a central part in our day-to-day lives and makes the British what they are. You only have to look at the British landscape to see how the weather has made the scenery what it is.

There are plenty of other references to the weather in his plays. In King Lear, Lear wanders aimlessly on the heath with his companion, The Fool, and the following is another quote which has weather in it:

In Act 2 Scene 7 we have the following:

The storm continues to rage. KENT enters in disguise.

The GENTLEMAN enters from a different direction.

KENT: Who's there, besides foul weather?

GENTLEMAN: One minded like the weather,

Most uniquely.

KENT: I know you, where's the king?

FIRST GENTLEMAN: Contending with the fretful elements;

Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea

Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main,

That things might change or cease; tears his white hair,

Which the impious blasts, with eyeless rage,

Catch in their fury and make nothing of;

Strives in his little world of man to out storm

The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain. . . . . 

Then Lear has this speech:

Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!
You cataracts and hurricanes, spout
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all shaking thunder,
Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once,
That make ungrateful man!

Then, further on in the scene The Clown has one of his songs which seem very similar to Feste's in Twelfth Night. I never know what function he has. Is he like a chorus, commenting on the action within the play? A lot of his songs have a sort of melancholy about them. As for Lear's Clown, he does have a purpose as he helps Lear and sort of counters his masters madness. It interesting that both plays deal with sanity. Infact, thinking about it, Hamlet is probably the most obvious of Shakespeare's plays to deal with madness. Although, is he really mad or is it feigned? As for madness in Twelfth Night, Malvolio's madness is brought about by Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Maria's treatment of him in the Sir Topaz episode.

The song of Lear's Clown I refer to is this:

He that has a little tiny wit,
With heigh-ho, the wind and the rain,
Must make content with his fortunes fit,
For the rain it raineth every day.

It is interesting that Shakespeare uses the weather as a sort of metaphor for Lear's madness. The descriptions of the weather in the play is very much how I would describe the current weather in Britain. Whether it could be used as a metaphor for the current world situation, whether financial, political, moral or whatever is open to question.

It's interesting to note that in television plays, cinema films, novels and other works of literature or creativity how authors and directors use weather as a sort of metaphor, for example rain clouds rushing past, usually in fast-motion (something of a cliche I know.) to represent something doom-laden is about to happen, such as the build-up to some tragedy, the start of a battle or a war, or a character is going to do something horrible such as a murder. Then, sunshine, brightly-lit scenes of countryside, represents happiness, pleasant happening etc. Never was this more obviously used in books by the Brontes, Wuthering Heights is a good example. Or mystery, suggested by fog, mist rising, bats flitting by a full moon with scudding clouds. All a bit corny and obvious, but we know more or less what is going to happen. If you have a miserable character standing by a window and it's raining and the rain is running down the window panes they can be seen to probably represent tears. Again, dreadfully corny. I could do a whole post of cliches. I think I might just do that.