Hymn

Ginger Nut

I’m not particularly worried.  I’ve been accused of something similar myself.  Still, I hadn’t expected it.  People are beginning to comment.  I was prepared for all sorts and thought I’d cope whatever happened but now I am concerned.  There’s no mistaking it - Baby’s going ginger.

Like It

Just nine weeks and she’s transformed beyond belief.  Until recently the most startling change has been her weight.  Now, however, she’s becoming a person, developing a personality, living beyond the Essentials.  It’s more than her parents simply understanding her.  She is growing up.  She’s settling into life and exploring it.  Light and dark, shapes, noises, smells - her world is expanding.  And, generally, she seems to like it.  You can see it on her face and in her eyes: she smiles.

Feted

These things aren't cool anymore. Sophisticated society looks down on simple community events - like our village fete.  Yet, we spent a day surrounded by happy smiling people.

After the carnival, my role was to man the wet sponge stall.  Of course when I say 'man' I mean stand behind and stick my head through.  It was truly uplifting to see how enthusiastically people wanted to support charity.  Indeed, during my time in the stocks, people turned up specially.  On more than a couple of occasions, punters demanded more water and sponges having fired all their missiles with admirable zeal.  Their commitment to giving was truly moving; in fact, through the torrents of water, the shivering and slight bruising, it brought a tear to my eye.

Christmas Present

This must be one of the odder things I’ve done.  At least at first sight.  I’m dressed as Father Christmas just a couple of days after the Summer Solstice and strolling through the village.  Of course there’s good reason but there’s only so many times I can explain myself as I walk alongside the Carnival Float.  ‘Yes, that’s right - Wrong time of year.  Yes, can’t read a calendar.  Ho ho ho.  Ha ha ha.’

Blood Red Sky

As I left the house this morning, just after dawn, I saw the Gothic Trumpeter.  He was going home.  He wore the same baggy black clothes and tee-shirt inscribed with Mega Metal Black Satan’s Angels Death or some such message.  I think he gestured an acknowledgment towards me.  Or he might have been wiping from his mouth the blood of the night’s victims.

Cup and Ball

There’s a girl who catches the same trains as me.  Sometimes we speak. Everyone seems to have a least one understatedly remarkable story.  As we spoke about football, she causally (really casually, not in a crap really-it’s-nothing phoney way) described how her boyfriend was photographed sitting in the European Cup when he was a baby.  His father was the captain of the winning team and thought it would be a wheeze.

Not Here

I’m disappointing a number of Italians.  People I don’t know, will never meet and who have no interest in me whatsoever.  Still, I leave them dissatisfied.  On the streets of Milan or Pisa or lesser known villages in the South, Mediterranean types are scuffing their shoes and cursing ‘Bloody Reeve.’  They keep searching for ‘cloud spotting’ and arriving here.  How disillusioned must they be?  Good to know I’m maintaining my ability to irritate complete strangers.  To make up for it, here’s the view from the window.

Bound to Increase

Baby is growing.  She feeds and she sleeps.  There’s a bit of screaming but it’s not what you could describe as exercise.  Baby is fattening up.  She’s getting to the stage when she looks as though there are rubber bands around all of her joints.

My Day

Daddy Reeve.  Beautiful daughter.  My first Fathers’ Day.

Reunion

I met some old friends and people not seen for years.  Most the same just in different circumstances.  Many in the process of settling - for some that settling seems flattening, like cereals in a packet, for others, filling out as ice expands to water.  But it was nice.  Safe somehow.  Familiar.  I felt better for it.  Not wanting to return to those times but happy in the warmth of selective reminiscences, new beginnings and the connection between Good Friends that reignites immediately on contact.