18, 21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and up.

 I am told by a Czech friend that I have just celebrated a round one and she is right.  It seems absurb, but also a privilege to turn 70 last weekend.  So a time for reflection, I was quite anxious weirdly so, but I think many of us get pensive around significant dates.  So many people never get to this age.  It has  also made me look back. I think at 18 I actually won a competition for my ditty, and I was given a lovely birthstone ring, but I think by the time I turned 21 mum was just beginning to show signs of the cancer that would kill her aged 50, so I don't remember any big celebrations.  I also don't have a clue as to what I did at 30. However, I do remember getting dumped by my very attractive, younger, Palestinian boyfriend on my 40th after a night out in my previously favourite cafe in Highgate.  I suffered another such dumping a couple of years ago, it is not nice, and somehow being on a birthday is so much worse. However, going to two funerals on my birthday is to be recommended as more friends and family are around than normal.  This year my sister had a belated 60th just last week. It was lovely to see my Scottish cousins and most of her friends I have met and some I have known for longer than many of my own friends so it is always good to see them.  And we had a ceiledh so great fun.  My 50th was a fundraiser in recognition that N's father had died of typhoid, so we raised money for Water Aid. My 60th the last time I got both Dad's together, before Brian died.  Also several London friends and other family came so it was a very pleasant occasion.  This year though I did not want anything fancy, and was pleased to spend the day just with my partner at Cecil Sharp House listening to great music.  70 years gone by in a flash. 

Because my niece is now on Spotify, I have finally joined their services, and now I have a play list and this band, Edgelarks,  were the first I put onto the system as they blew me a way with their musicianship. 

Talking of which I am currently regularly going on the Daily Antidote of Song and listening to musicians from around the world but mainly in America on that.  Suitable for woke listeners.  

What a great big week.

Very little photographic evidence, but it has been a great week.  From the BGP pub session in Waltham Cross at the start of the week,  when I also managed to catch up with a friend and ate lovely home made Ethiopian food.  Then on Wednesday it was down to London to see the production of Lonely Londoners at the Kiln theatre.  I had to come back to Hertfordshire as I had salsa and some volunteer teaching on Thursday but then went back to London. Now today I have taken part in the Great British Birdwatch and been to the East Herts Green Party Campaign Launch, with Carla Denyer.   

As a journalist I interviewed Tony Benn, I was in Maggie's constituency reporting, but on the whole chose not to cover her visits myself,  a good friend of mine,  sadly now long dead, her husband, was in the first SNP Government,  another friend was in the first Bhutanese Government, which is pretty cool and I even met the brother in law of Ang Sang Suu Kyi,  but meeting both leaders of the Green Party is up there.   The party is tiny, compared with most in the UK, it does not get rich funders, supporters like myself have to put their hands in their pockets to make it work, which can be frightening at times, but despite the odds against us, we now have 4 MPs, 2 representatives in the Lords, and over 800 Councillors. With Trump in the White House and even the Labour Party in the UK throwing out their net zero policies, it is a doubly frightening time for the planet, so it felt wonderful to be in the room, not where it happened, but where it might happen.   More people need to vote green and around the world more needs to be done, but to have a bit of hope is not a bad thing. 

Red kite

Especially after a week when the felon in the White House decided to stop all "illegal migration" on the grounds that it is illegal, and the English school that I work for decided that having native speakers who live in England is too expensive. So, we are about to be replaced by A.I. Trump does feel like some weird A.I. robot that has gone wrong and Elon too.  Strange times but for a moment hopeful times too. 

Suffolk and Essex

 Suffolk has very much been in my heart since my late teens, from camping in "Hairy Mary's" field - not a name we can be proud of - to trips to Southwold and then Woodbridge to see Brie and John and then just John. Off and on it has been a key part of my life, so I was very happy to drag my partner around familiar places.  I got to spend 10 minutes communing with Brie to say farewell to her in a place that meant so much to her, even if the friendship did not last, I wanted to do that, but I also got to explore previously unknown parts of Suffolk for example Green MP' Adrian's constituency. 

Despite living over the river from Essex, and now regularly popping over Maldon way, which I really like, the Stour Valley was a revelation on this trip.   Flatford Mill has not changed much since I was last there about 40 years ago, but I do not think I have ever been more suprised by this county than after we emerged from Manningtree and this vast expanse of water opened out.   

Harwich where we were based, is much smaller than expected, but has some fine terraced housing, and an interesting history.  We learned much more for example about Pepys' role as MP and working for Trinity House.  But topping off the whole visit, was a chance to see the outside of Grayson Perry's House for Essex.    The trip was a Christmas present from my partner's daughter, so a big thank you to A.  

Also a big thank you to me, because on the Sunday before our trip away, my Christmas present to R, was to see the New Year's concert at Saffron Hall also in Essex.  I just love being in the third row able to watch every movement and to hear every sound.  Along with the familiar, there were new interpretations for trumpet from once famous but now forgotten composers.   A lovely treat. 

(Published without photos as having a problem with uploading images)

Christmas has come and gone, but happy memories live on.

 Christmas has come and gone, and I am tucked up in bed, with a nasty seasonal cough (unusually for me).  whilst it was nice to do the usual resevoir walk and very special to visit Mount Grace and Saltburn,  I felt disconnected at Christmas.  Perhaps that is what happens after two significant losses in the year. 

The dog loved the wild sea, there was a huge queue for fish and chips and people were surfing,  so an interesting first visit to this northern seaside town. 

 However, perhaps it is also because unintentionally I had so many treats before Christmas as I caught up with friends and family in Croatia and made new friends volunteering with Englishausen near Munich.  I have never been to so many Christmas markets before, and whilst I do not think of them as my kind of thing, and sadly I am aware that they can attract the wrong kind of attention,  they were great fun or it was great fun seeing everyone enjoying themselves so much and enjoying the differences and similarities between the markets, culminating in the one in Salzburg.  I have amassed a small collection of Gluhvein mugs which will hopefully help me remember this time when I am even more in my dotage.     I also still have not managed to see the whole of Sound of Music, but I know a lot more about where it was filmed and of course,  Mozart has been revisited.  The house where he was born said he was an internationalist because as a young man he could move around and work everywhere in Europe.    Interesting observation, in these really difficult times. 

        

Salzburg

Zagreb

Munich's main Christmas market. 

Flooding risk and how to respond, or Bert bashing at the window.

 Whilst I was in America, Hurricane Helene raged,  and someone I know was caught up with it.  She said for several days before they had to evacuate as the sound was horrendous, but they are used to living in Florida and so mostly know how to deal with these things.  However, they were a bit caught out when it came to the evacuation and the getting the wood to board up the property as they had not got any in ahead of the storm.  It was only because there were several people in the house, that it was possible to nail the property as tight as possible before leaving the home. The other thing about the evacuation was thinking about everything they needed to take with them including the hamster.  Again this is a family used to these things, and used to getting text messages telling them what to do, a family that already has a grab bag ready for such events, but even they had a few difficulties and if they had not got a car or the $1000 dollars the hotel away from home cost them, how would they have managed.  Would they have been like the people of Valencia, literally swept up in the disaster and dead, for the want of sufficient warning and useful messages of advice.  

Every since my sister's neighbourhood got cut off in the snow, I have wondered how I and others in my situation would manage.  Some of the residents of Weardale were cut off in the snow wihtout any heating, so the carers, who knew their clients, found themselves helping with solultions, rather than the Council.   Since then, the locals in Weardale have tried to build their resilience e.g. learning where power operates, where power doesn't, who has a spare generator, who is totally isolated. However, when they tried to work with the Council on this, the volunteers found them got bogged down in the Council systems, so no permanent way forward was found as far as I know.  

A wet and windswept Broxbourne. 

This weekend I was supposed to be travelling to Basildon, but I decided in view of Bert's activities to give it a miss. Bert is the second named storm is it of the season?  And at present there are about a 100 flooding warnings out and 20000 in the UK without power.    How many of us know how to prepare for such a situation?  There is this Government website Prepare for a flood,  and that on a personal level is definitely a good starting point, and I know that various organisations locally have a plan, but us individuals who they are planning for, have not been let into the plan.  Some years ago I approached the local Council asking for greater coordination between them and us, and they replied thoughtfully but said that there was no such a mechanism.   Since then the number of floodings and the seriousness of floods has only increased, so a reminder for myself, be prepared, a reminder to dear reader/s be prepared, but also I need to go back to the Council and see if more can be done.  

Also remember there are plus sides from not being able to travel three hours in the wind and rain as yesterday I managed to go to a music concert by harpist,

Harriet Adie,  which was really lovely and I also dropped in on the WTBL Christmas do, however, I feel really sorry for those like Love Hoddesdon putting events on today as the wind and the rain will put most people off, it certainly has me, which is why I am at home writing this.  I finally have a bit more work as I have done my training to update my sklls, but I am still not very adept at the new system so am taking it gently. 

Small work crisis.

 One of the thing facing many older people is how and when to give up work and how much money is needed to do so.    In my head I had thought keep going to 70.  I am only doing about 10 hours a week, so that is manageable till then,  maybe even May.... July etc. Always extending it (a third goes in taxes now) , not just because of the money but because I have always worked.   But I had a real shock today, apparently I am not going to be offered any more private work and as that is 98% of what I do that is in effect it unless I retrain.    So now I am in the midst of an internal debate as to whether to give up or try to go on.  Many friends are still working part time.  Most of them have better pensions than me but value the intellectual stimulation. Others say don't be daft stop working.   J's kindness means I am not the impoverished soul I once was or felt myself to be, but having been told how much it will cost to do up my place.... etc etc and really what I was earning was pin money.  So I do not know.    I may not have a choice in the matter.  And now it looks like my last ever student is not going to turn up!. 

And to make things work,  America voted Trump back in.  

Washington part 2 and the end of the holiday.

 I went from a huge house on the outskirts of Washington, to a little space, a pod, the bottom one of three in a 6 person room. Both were lovely.  I was in the Adams Morgan district and I don't know what it is like the rest of the year, but the two nights I stayed were like one big infectious party.  It is perhaps very annoying if you want to sleep, but I just wanted to stay out on the street as much as possible to take in the variety of people, the music blaring out from the speakers set up outside the bars, and the variety of eating places.  There were even eccentric pimped up cars, slowly parading the streets, like something out of a film. but that is America, all of it is something I have only seen before on films (or my history books) and yet it is real. 

Lincoln's View. 

Saturday,  I went back downtown to the Washington that is so familiar, yet none less moving for that - LIncoln Memorial but I approached from the reverse side, from the Potomac, with the runners, and the boats and people playing beach volley ball. And then there is was that view down The Mall, people climbing the steps and one little muddled boy saying it was the White House.  He was not the only one to get his locations confused another parents was telling their child the State Capital was the White House! So both very familiar and yet unfamiliar  Things we see but do not quite understand or absorb.  In fact, the White House was so distant when I got even remotely close to it,  it was hard to conceive that this was such a significant place.

 I hope another time, if I ever get the chance, to go more into the musuems that explain these sights, but I headed to the African American Museum. It was packed and for some reasons the busiest parts were at the bottom of a small dark space,  I wondered if they were trying to get us to understand something visceral about the experience of slavery, in addition to the information that spiralled from bottom  through the history of civil rights to the point of Obama's unprecedented and at one time inconceivable achievement.    I was there a good couple of hours and could have stayed longer but needed sunshine and food.   

Salem

Then the following day,  it really did feel like the holiday was virtually over,  the 8 hour Amtrak journey back to Boston along stunning coastline,sped past and then I was back in Boston.  The weather turned on a dime, it was soaking wet when I finally boarded the boat to Salem and I dripped around the town.  Every vital witch museum was fully booked and a few people were dressed up in something that indicated they were witches, but the numbers in town were probably much lower than normal owing to the weather.  I was happy to potter around and take it all in but I was most interested in the historic buildings.   

My last day, the sun was back out again and it was lovely to go to Harvard, it is a University that seems to wear Autumn clothes well.  There is a building there by Corbusier, but I popped next door instead to the art gallery.  

I could happily stayed living in America (if I could have afforded it) and having weekends in Washington and Harvard and so on.  Instead I walked back through the harbour area and to the hostel, and then that was that. The flight home was effortless, why has it taken me so long to do such an easy journey.  Let's hope the money and energy will last long enough to enable me to return, I am glad and blessed to know America better.