Friday 12 July 2002
Circling
My apologies for that last depressing brain-dump of an entry ... I was having a bad bad bad weekend. And whilst the basic problems and circumstances remain, I'm feeling better - all the crap is real and not just in my head, but it is mostly mere circumstance and hassle and it will work out. I just have to sit tight, keep my head together and wait. I'm not good at waiting, you all know that, right? The stuff I can't do much about ... well more on that in a bit.
I also suspect that having a good whinge was most cathartic - I do tend to bottle things up (honest - I know it seems like I'm transparent and TMI all the time, but a lot of that is my version of frivolous camouflage) and when I let rip, well I really let rip.
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I experienced my first - and probably only - taste of summer yesterday. It was beautifully sunny and clear in the morning, warm enough to go jacket-less, and blue skied and still. Simply heavenly. I had to take advantage of it while it lasted, so I went for a walk up to the "village" (about half an hour walk) to go to the doctor's to pick up some prescriptions and have my monthly B12 injection (ouch). Then I caught a bus and meandered into town, where I had a most exciting time at Boots, getting said prescriptions made up and picking up some other essentials, plus fish oil capsules and glucosamine with condroitin - I figure I may as well give it a go, I'll report on the efficacy if any in a month or two.
By the time I'd done all that, and headed to the bus stop to return home, the blue skies had clouded, it was getting chilly, and then started to spatter rain. Harrumph.
I had a little nap (cat curled up next to me) by which time the weather had cleared again. Jessie was shrieking at the back door "mow mow oooouuuuuut" so I took the hint, buckled her into her harness (always a bit of a production as she will squirm) then headed out the back with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Jess roamed as far as she could on the leash, but mostly rolled about tartily on the bricks, soaking up the warmth as blissfully as I.
By the time Sam got home, of course, the weather was shite yet again, and we made a very quick trip up to the local shops to get a few groceries, then walked home in spitting rain. My ears were pink and aching. This is summer? Ha.
That night was Bonfire Night - the warm-up event to the activities on the 12th, where most protestant areas set a huge bonfire alight and have a bit of a party. I wasn't exactly interested in joining the throngs as you could well imagine, not being keen on bonfires, fireworks, drunken mobs and a spot of petty vandalism.. All night we heard the army choppers circling and circling overhead ...
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Today (Friday) is the Big Day on the Orangemen Marching Calendar. For educational reasons, here's a brief precis; back in 1690 William of Orange ("King Billy") fought and won the Battle of the Boyne against Catholic King James II - and set off the cycle of Protestant-Catholic hatred, loathing, bigotry and violence that we see here today.
Throughout the month of July, Orangemen go on marches and parades throughout N.I. to celebrate and mark this victory over the Catholics. Sectarian violence is set off deliberately as the Orange order marches through Catholic areas in provocative manner, citing as justification that it is "the traditional route". There is always much rioting and violence, with bricks to petrol bombs being thrown by both nationalists and loyalists. It's a fun time alright.
The 12th is the Big Day in that the parade goes through the centre of Belfast and enters and exits at strongly nationalist/Catholic areas, so even higher levels of violence is expected and police and army presence is reinforced further. I'm avoiding the news for now - yes I am being a complete ostrich, but I'll wait until tomorrow to find out what happened, and anyway it's not like I can do anything about it, also reading blow by blow accounts only serves to exacerbate my fragile calm.
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I really, really, really can't see the point of any of it. To my mind the entire marching season with inflammatory parading is deliberately provocative and inviting violence and vandalism. To people who've been born and bred here it is all perfectly normal and unquestioned; that the same thing happens every year and "ordinary" people are restricted and scared to go out. I don't get it any more than I get celebrations of Australia Day back in Australia (Australia Day, 26 January, marks the first landing of the First Fleet of Brits, and the commencement of destruction and displacement of native people, fauna and flora. Um, yay?). What's to celebrate? War, mindless violence, bigotry and the crippling of society and economy. I don't get it.
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And I can still hear the army helicopters circling and circling ...
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Listening to: |
J S Bach. Mass in B Minor. |
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Reading: |
Anita Loos. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. A re-read of course, but what a classic and very very funny. |
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Eating/cooking: |
I made this interesting soup. It started off as a chicken and vegetable broth-type soup, with lots of leeks and a few carrots and spuds and celery and loads of parsley all chopped up small and homemade stock, but then I realised that not only did I not have any chicken fillet/pieces to add to the broth, I had some very nice pieces of cod that needed cooking and there was no way on earth I was going to fry anything (tummy being a trifle wobbly lately), so I ended up poaching the cod in a few ladlefuls of the broth in a separate pan, with extra parsley and olive oil, then serving the pieces of fish in wide soup bowls with the broth ladled over. Yum. I've never really liked tomato-based fish soups eg the Italian zuppa de pesce et al, and this was just perfect, tasty and fragrant yet delicate. This goes on my recipe file ... think of a name, quick! We ate it with crusty bread rolls (g/free) and a green salad and a glass of wine. Delicious |