Gnats on a pond

Distracting thoughts harass my heart and mind.

Like gnats that dance on ponds in bright sunshine

In the deeper waters there are fish.

How to tempt them to my little dish?

The gossips have no wisdom, they are fools.

Idle thoughts are idle, they misrule

Do not converse with your own idle thoughts

Wait in peace for wisdom has a heart

Gossip has a function in a street.

Gives us bored old folk sweet meats.

Do not introduce your careless hate.

As ,hidden in the Shadows, Satan waits

Quietly drowning in the rivers deep

The inner guide will help you dream to sleep.

Through the window

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

After dinner, Mary and Stan often went for a longish walk.They liked to go to a road where the richer people of Britain lived.,where there were some Georgian houses and one Tudor house.
At dusk, they would stroll by looking into the lighted windows to see how the rooms were decorated.And if the front garden was large sometimes they crept in to see more
One beautiful house they liked from the outside was spoiled for Mary by the garish tartan wall paper.
What sort of people would live there, she asked Emile who was in her handbag.with his head peeping out
Well,they have a cat called Percy,he mewed softly.
Why Percy?It is a noble name from the British past of course, she answered…
Earls of Percy were involved in affairs of state.
Well.Percy is Chinese, Emile said to her wittily.
He ought to be called Hu Ar U then, Mary joked ,or tried to as her sense of humor was somewhat lacking or maybe just odd.Still she looked lovely despite her moth eaten clothes bought in Sales in colors nobody else wanted like purple and lilac and bottle green.
She and Stan crept slowly up the garden path and peered nervously into the empty sitting room trying to identify the paintings on the walls.
All of a sudden, a woman who was completely naked came into the room and lay modishly on a sofa as if she were a trained dancer.She was a sight for sore male eyes.
Are they about to have a drawing class, Stan whispered.
She must be a model for a Life Class or an abstract woman with cat ,if Percy gets into the frame, Mary mused
Percy might scratch her then.Stan muttered.She could scream.
Suddenly a loud voice was booming at them.
What the hell are you doing in my garden?
There stood a big man in plus fours and an oversized red jumper with matching cheeks
We were admiring your wall paper, Mary said.I think it is very unusual.
He smiled in gratification.
I chose it, he cried.All by my self.
But why is there a nude lady on the sofa, Stan enquired?
I am so annoyed, the man told them.My fiancee likes to walk around nude but she forgets to draw the curtains first.
Does she want to make an exhibition of herself, Stan enquired hopefully.
We wondered if it was for a life class, you know, students learning to draw and become artists of note.
Well, that’s a good idea said Arthur thoughtfully.
The woman got up and came over.She opened the window.To their astonishment, she was Annie, their neighbour and Stan’s mistress too.Stan might have known but he had kept his face immobile after years of practice.
Fancy seeing you here, Annie whispered creatively in her sweet little voice
I am trying to seduce Arthur but with no success so far except a marriage proposal.
You need to be more discreet and indirect, said Stan.
If you act like this he will think you are an artist’s model and likely to be featured in the Tate Modern Annual Show of Infamy Now, would a man like this marry or even sleep with such a woman as you appear to be walking around like Eve before she ate the apple?
I don’t know said Annie but my clothes are all in the tumble dryer, anyhow.
Did you wet yourself? Mary asked her kindly
It’s nothing to be ashamed of.We all do it now and then especially since public conveniences were shut down across the UK.And now ,even coats are machine washable.
Well,I knocked over some lemon barley water in a big jug and so I decided to wash all my clothes. while I was here as Arthur as a tumble dryer
That’s a very strange tale Arthur told her.You look ravishing hanging out of the window with your nipples pointing up.Let me take a photo of
you.Say, Cheese
But will you put it on Twitter, Annie asked anxiously.
No, dear.I am not so cruel.Why don’t you get your clothes and make us all some tea/
I can’t make tea, she yelled and without pausing she dialled 999.
What is it Fire or Ambulance the lady receptionist asked politely?
It’s a kettle.
Is it on fire?
No , it won’t boil.Can you send Dave the paramedic
please, as he makes good tea.
We are quite busy so it may be two hours or more she was told.
I thought this was an emergency service, Annie said.
But who defines what an emergency is? the lady asked her philosophically.
I will die without this tea, Annie informed her in a ringing tone
Ok, hang up and I will send the ambulance now.
Arthur seemed a little surprised
I have private medical insurance, he cried.But they don’t make tea not even for old people.
Well, in the UK tea has always been essential to the National Health
But it will soon be drying up and we shall get flasks from the dustmen on Sundays instead.
I just don’t believe it, Arthur said and he then passed out on the rug which stood in front of a bookcase full of leather bound volumes of poetry.
Will he live?Read more tomorrow and pay the price… a few minutes of fun and gaiety.

Butterfly Effect Teaches Us That Small Things Matter

https://www.wittenborg.eu/butterfly-effect-teaches-us-small-things-matter.htm#:~:text=One%20small%20whiff%20of%20a,the%20power%20of%20small%20acts.

Teaches us is that small things matter, and we are all connected to a bigger system.  O

Do not be as stupid as Me

1 Do not stop your car to read this sign.Thank you

  1. If you can’t read this sign get your eyes tested~unless you are illiterate
    3 This sign is not here till further notice
    4.This sign is here but don’t look at it
    5 Harald Bluetooth, please call the police.
  2. This sign has been push here to annoy you. If you do something bad like driving on the wrong lane then we will know that the sign should not have been here

How to grow on holiday

How to pack a suitcase when you never wear a suit
However did we pack ,when we had no kindle books?
How to go on holiday on the perfect route

I sometimes wore a sandal, my sister liked a boot
We were not so worried by perfection and our looks
Nor how to pack a suitcase when we never wore a suit

If you play a cello then never take a flute
Don’t take any sandwiches unless you have a cook
How to go on field trips when the your anger is acute

If you feel the stress of life, why not become mute?
If you have a caravan, is it overlooked?
How to pack a suitcase when you never sawed a suit

If you only take one bag,, you seem to me astute
Don’t take any rifles it’s illegal to shoot rooks
How to go on holiday on the perfect route.

Make sure you wear your wellingtons if you walk through a brook
Take some stolen credit cards , if you are a crook
How to wear a suitcase when you never wear a suit
How to grow on holiday, slurp the perfect soup

We use fuzzy logic.

pinkcatandsun

Annie Laughton, the neighbor of Mary Brown, widow of Stan , the  almost world famous logician, came out of her oak-panelled front door and paused in her double glazed white plastic porch deliberating over whether her teal color 7/8  length wool coat was the best one for her to wear in the frosty smog covering Knittingham and the River Quaint.[Now breathe]
She decided a full-length raspberry maxi coat would be wiser however she did not take her own advice but wandered next door, to see what Mary was doing.
Mary was reading some book reviews.
There is a new type of illness, she told Anne.
Almost flu.almost depression, almost measles……almost happy


Surely you either have measles or not, Annie mumbled.
Not so, Mary answered.That is Aristotelian logic; nowadays we use fuzzy logic.It’s a degree of indefiniteness or its opposite.
This is why Trump got elected, Annie cried.We want it simpler.apart from Leonard Cohen who wanted it darker and so it has been for him.He died!
Well, fuzzy logic is not so hard, Mary whispered.
Any logic is hard, Annie replied.Prehistoric man had no logic and look at us now.Are we happier?Or we wiser? 
You seem a bit moody, Mary told her.By the way, I love your new coat.Where did you get it from?
I stole it from the cloakroom at the Cricket Club, Annie teased her thoughtfully.
Are you not worried the owner will see you? said Mary anxiously.
No, it was in Newcastle under Lyme!  Annie cried
But it is still both a crime and a sin.Mary retorted logically
Actually, I got it from Lands End, Annie said triumphantly.They had a big sale on.Because it was a warm autumn.It was only £6,788.09.
My, that’s cheap, said Mary.
My pension is £189 a week so how long will it take me to pay off the credit card? Annie wondered.
If we ignore interest and assume you pay £100 a week it will be 16788/100 which is about  168 weeks or 3 years.Can you live on £89 a week for 3 years?
No, I knew I should have stolen a new coat but I lost my nerve.
I am still wearing my old clothes, Mary boasted.
Yes, I  can see all the moth holes, Annie said humorously.Your darning is pathetic
I know, Mary said.Stan was good at darning.
Well, he can’t do it now, Annie informed her logically.Well. he might darn God’s tablecloth but not your skirts and jumpers.
God’s tablecloth is perfect, said Mary.It lasts for eternity unlike our clothes
Are we going out?It looks so cold.Why don’t we stay in and teach Emile to thread a needle?Annie pondered
Do you believe that a cat could ever learn that? Mary cried.
O ye of little faith,cried Annie.With God all things are possible.
Your argument has only one flaw,Mary cried.We are not God.
And so say all of us

Wondered what she might say next that could offend millions around the globe

New cats today

While Mary sat in the kitchen on a large pine chair looking at Hotter’s  latest shoe catalogue,Annie was creeping up the garden path in a pair of turquoise suede elegantly heeled shoes matching her teal tencel culottes and matching blouse.Round her neck was a large lump of amber on a gold chain handy for beating off muggers or lustful men
Despite the heat she was in full splendour with  golden beige tinted moisturiser from Langone of Lyons on her lovely complexion,pink eyeshadow  from Yves St Current and dark brown boot polish as  her mascara had run out and she’d not been out for a while to buy more
Annie ran the last few yards and darted like an eel into Mary’s 1970’s  kitchen.
What on earth are you doing,dear? Mary asked her.Those shoes look unsuitable for  leading anyone up the garden path.Mind you,I do like them
Oh,I’ll explain,Annie said huskily.
I told  that therapist across the road I was  living with you.
What exactly do you mean by living,Mary asked anxiously.
Well,he said yesterday that anyone who lives alone must be lacking in some way.Except for him of course as he had full  analysis with Alfred Zion.
You mean Wilfred Bion,Mary told her.
Zion,Bion,what’s the difference?
It shows your  lack of education,Mary told her.Not that education nowadays makes much difference when almost anyone can get a 1st or 2.1.After all would you pay £90,000 for a third class degree in Aeronautical Engineering?
That’s not quite what I would have done, said Annie.A degree in flirtation and pleasing men would be more up my street.And cooking of course although I once did have an interest in Hebrew and Aramaic.
It’s not a way to progress in  a neo-liberal economy,although reading the Hebrew Bible is always interesting.Personally I  prefer  that to the New Vex-a man.The stories,the love songs,the action.Mary’s round eyes gleamed with intellectual life and a bit of  languorous lust
How about God? Annie asked her.
He seems to have changed as he related to his people.But he was a friend despite being an abstract concept.Though one could hardly call him a concept as he is inconceivable.
Mary’s voice faltered as  she was stunned by her own articulacy and wondered what she might say next that could offend millions around the globe.
You should write a book,Annie said kindly.
I think I am ill-equipped to write about God.And ,also ,I am saddened to see how his  own people  have been treated.I can’t dwell on  it over much as I already feel weak and weepy.
Why what have you  been doing,asked Annie.
I have been sorting out clothes to  give to the hospice shop. I’ve got a big bag
full already and  2 bags of newspapers and rubbish of various kinds which somehow creeps into my bedroom…  tissues,cotton wool, old hairbrushes.I am hoping to get it nice and neat before my sister comes to see me in August.And no doubt she will not be happy even then.She’d like me to buy a  small new house with a  lovely bathroom and kitchen. But I don’t want to leave my neighbours behind.If I won the lottery I could get the neighbours to move as well.Love thy  neighbour  etc
And now I realise I have far too many pans despite burning several.But it’s a big decision for a woman who was  famed for entertaining friends with  scorching Beef Vindaloo and lemon mousse that  tasted like  rubber.Giving that up is a big wrench.
Why can’t you carry on, asked Annie.
Carrying on is precisely why I can’t do it.Now I am a widow the wives of my former  colleagues and  my own women friends are afraid I will steal their husbands.
Emile miaowed in ecstasy as any  talk about  the love lives of his family were always intriguing.He was hiding as usual behind  the stone flour bin.
Don’t you see,said Annie.If we pretend we are living together then you can mingle with men without suspicion.
This is beginning to sound like a spy story,Mary told her.And do not drag me into  a character part  in the play  based on your romantic love for that psychoanalyst.
He looks ugly and boring to me.
Oh,that’s just a projection,Annie told her.You are defending yourself against acknowledging how much you long to lie in his arms and let him smother you in kisses.
Well,said Mary,I see you have been reading Freud for beginners again.
Or is it Freud for Dummies?
Mary recalled  how nice her dummy used to taste when it was dipped into a jar of malt and codliver oil.Maybe that is the answer,she thought.
I’m going to Mothercare,she called as  she ran out of the house in her green trainers and denim trouser suit.See you later.
Annie sat in the kitchen wondering how soon she could see the psychoanalyst again without  being accused of sexual harassment.Even   old age has not deterred her from seeking a replacement for dear old Stan.A few tears ran down her cheek and Emile  jumped out and sat on her knee.

The wild bird

I saw your soul like that of a wild bird
Someone other guided me to act
Deep inside my voice had been unlocked
I sang the psalms and then a lullaby
Not aware in thought that you would die.
I fed you with a teaspoon the mashed fish
From a plate as good as one might wish
Like a little child you tried your best
You smiled at me and gazed like one who’s blessed
You sat up with a brighter face at last
Then lay back and God knows all the rest

Oh, don’t go yet ,my darling,I am here
The floor of heaven came down among my tears
Made of sumptuous satin, golden,dear.
For a little moment it hung low
Then it rose and took you in its glow
I saw your soul like that of a wild bird
Taken by the Power who spoke the Word
A sheet of tears fell down from my closed eyes
It’s hard ,so hard when those you love must die

I do not wish to have a bitter heart

My washing will not dry laid on the hedge
But I stand here while nurturing a grudge
I rarely feel one so I must retain
The nasty feeling and the horrid pain

Yet since it hurts me,I must be a fool
The errant friend will turn into a ghoul
I’ll hear her footsteps from my ancient bed
Till she enters carrying her head

Oh God lift up my ruminating curse
Let me have your grace or I’ll get worse
I do not wish to have a bitter heart
Grudges turn to dread; it’s hatred’s art

For if I learn destruction and its ways
Cruelty will have the final say

I passed out very well

Will you pass the toast?

It depends how fast I’m driving.

Could I have some more butter?

Well you could, but I don’t know if you will.

Will you pass the jam?

No I only pass the cream.

Could you pass the examination this afternoon?

Only if it’s on the M25.

Could you pass the parcel round?

In theory yes. Why would I?

It night break the ice at Christmas

That’s all very well but will it melt

Have you open the newspaper yet?

I shall have to iron it.

I hope you won’t do that to the butter.

Who has heard of creased butter?

Is it something like greased lightning?

No it’s more like pleated thunder.

But the pleats can’t be permanent.

Few things are permanent and that is what is so cheering about life.

I have made a hundred mince pies.

When did you learn to count?

When you began to steal them.

I wonder if that would work with children?

Do you think children could make mince pies?

Not unless you like them raw.

Could you make the bed today?

I ll have a look at the instruction leaflet.

That’s what you said when I wanted to start a family.

Unfortunately it was in Hebrew.

If you had made the bed before we got married.

You’re just so lazy you want even fly to Hebrew for me

Is it modern or ancient?

It’s the same country whether it’s modern or ancient.

You need to put a watch on your tongue.

Why, do you want to time our kisses?

Well it is vital.

Is it one of the vital signs?

It depends what you are judging.

I’m wondering whether to leave our marriage.

Where?

I have a feeling that we don’t listen to each other.

What?

Time is nearly up

When?

I thought we could try free love

I suppose once the divorce comes through.

Giving birth in modern Britain

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a96536f2-1c98-11ee-8434-240b5ab9f9b1?shareToken=25c1cd226275d09fb4d6f601981807c8

After meeting with other mothers with similar experiences, one woman, who was Indian, said it had not been noticed she was haemorrhaging because of her skin colour. One woman was told to “be more careful” when she bled on the floor, another was told by a midwife “if we gave pain relief to everyone it would bankrupt the NHS”.

Portaloo Doom

What a wasted space is a corridor

Like a bullfight without any matador 1

We can have three commodes

They won’t come to blows

What on earth is the hospital waiting for?

We don’t need a bedpan these days

Like we don’t need a church for our prayers

The old can wear nappies

They keep babies happy.

Just clean them all up once a day

Patience don’t need their own bathroom

A porta loo has very few fumes

The porters won’t like it

But I don’t think we’ll fight it

As long as it’s not shown on zoom.

Redress the balance: Being steady on your feet – Reader’s Digest

https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/health/wellbeing/redress-the-balance-being-steady-on-your-feet

There are three components to balance. The first is the visual system, which shows us whether we’re tilting. Then the vestibular system in the inner ear sends information to our brain about the motion of our head in relation to our surroundings. Thirdly, proprioception is our body’s ability to sense its location, movement and actions. 

“People with ear problems that cause dizziness […] are more likely to have balance issues”

People with ear problems that cause dizziness, or with joint problems or muscle weakness are more likely to have balance issues. If you suffer from dizziness, see your GP to find out the reason.

Get your strength up

 
Exercise goes a long way to helping you stay steady on your feet

But there’s a lot you can do yourself to improve physical strength. If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game. One study found that a group that did 32 weeks of resistance training improved their ability to stand on one foot by 25 per cent and another group that did 32 weeks of aerobic exercise increased theirs by 31 per cent.

” If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game”

null

Otherwise, improve your balance by walking, cycling or climbing stairs – this will strengthen muscles in the lower body – or by practising yoga, pilates or tai chi. Or simply practise balancing on one leg – hold onto a chair to begin with, if necessary. 

Read more: Sex and ageing: Fact or fiction?

Read more: How to protect your hips

Keep up with the top stories from Reader’s Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter

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There are three components to balance. The first is the visual system, which shows us whether we’re tilting. Then the vestibular system in the inner ear sends information to our brain about the motion of our head in relation to our surroundings. Thirdly, proprioception is our body’s ability to sense its location, movement and actions. 

“People with ear problems that cause dizziness […] are more likely to have balance issues”

People with ear problems that cause dizziness, or with joint problems or muscle weakness are more likely to have balance issues. If you suffer from dizziness, see your GP to find out the reason.

Get your strength up

 
Exercise goes a long way to helping you stay steady on your feet

But there’s a lot you can do yourself to improve physical strength. If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game. One study found that a group that did 32 weeks of resistance training improved their ability to stand on one foot by 25 per cent and another group that did 32 weeks of aerobic exercise increased theirs by 31 per cent.

” If you exercise, you’re ahead of the game”

null

Otherwise, improve your balance by walking, cycling or climbing stairs – this will strengthen muscles in the lower body – or by practising yoga, pilates or tai chi. Or simply practise balancing on one leg – hold onto a chair to begin with, if necessary. 

Read more: Sex and ageing: Fact or fiction?

Read more: How to protect your hips

Keep up with the top stories from Reader’s Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter

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CBD oil: Benefits, uses & best UK brands in 2021

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The music

Our music is a late Beethoven string quartet.
Although I can’t see you,I know
You are listening; the architecture of my heart
Is structured round this form
alone.I sit here dreaming hearing the bows
as they most beautifully cause vibrations
sending the depths of love through the air;
as also do the strong yet gentle bells ringing
on the collars of goats on a far away mountain.
I know it’s your music I heard it
when I first looked into your shadowed eyes
and knew who you might be.
A pebble is tossed languidly into a lake
yet ripples spread out across the world.
Such deliverances as we find will only
link us further,as we dance,the elegant dance
of the knowingly brave
who never give in,
but will always keep in step with the world
as it turns unseen past flashing silver stars
until its time has come.
Yet the music we create remains for ever
floating through the air,
like perfume of these late roses
as I walk down the garden
and into the intolerable green newness of this tangled wood,
which startles me with its violent wistfulness.
Oh,come now…I hear your footstep on the road.
It’s the wind sighing eloquently,
knowing you have gone away
into the dark and the deep.where new life is formed
and I wait for you,fierce yet kind, with tender love.
I offer my heart to the world
and the music takes 

Original sin

The sin a child is born to is not hers;
For mother’s body’s sacred with its grace.
The sin a child is born to,it is ours

Yet ,at a baptism will the priest declare:
Out ye demons,leave this infant’s space.
The sin a child is born to is not hers

The infant naturally speaks in tongues of fire.
The Spirit moves eternal in its trace
The sin a child is born to,it is ours

The path we learn to walk ‘s already there
The rules and laws were written with no haste
The sin a child is born to is not hers

A child born now is marked by Iraq War
A child born now, in paranoia’s traced.
The sin a child is born to,it is ours

Oh,look upon the infant’s holy face
Beatific vision is there traced
The sin a child is born to is not hers
The sin a child is born to,it is ours

Smokey Road near Hythe

Leaving Elham driving South to Hythe
Driving by the stubble through the smoke
As if the very earth was all aflame
The Saxon cliffs provide a steep old road

By the shore the sea was teal and glowed
The hinterland was barley, sun and light
The crops up in the North were never rich
For us Northern people , such a sight

Now the Channel Tunnel is nearby
Motorways with lorries either way
Yet I remember Dover,Deal, and Hythe
The little woods where children used to play

ÎThe Saxon cliffs are wayback from the sea
The Saxons would be startled, could they see

I have made my bed on winter leaves

I have walked the silent paths of grief
Since I made my choice to care for him
I have slept on beds of cold dead leaves.

I do not want to claim that death’s a thief
Although my heart’s dear light and joy have gone.
I have never felt I was deceived.

I have learned that human life’s too brief.
I have learned by sorrow I’m undone.
I have sifted earth and what’s beneath.

I have felt the dark emotions seethe
While I have been mocked by cruel sun.
I have learned the geography of grief.

I wait on earth for senseless life to cease
Or will a fluttering wing make chaos come,
Change my heart and give me a fresh lease?

Catastrophic grief can make us dumb
Into our hearts we drag the ice that numbs
I have walked the silent paths of grief
I have slept on beds of winter leaves

The shops look all the same to me

The shops look all the same to me.
plastic human models with no heads
are placed in the windows
showing us how we might look
if we bought the latest “fashions”.
“
People walk, by dropping paper and cans
some look at me,most don’t
I’m invisible now ,I’m a ghost.
I haunt my familiar spaces
the library green and the path by the river

The phone shops tempt us with large notices:
Just £39 per month for the best of all,
the latest,the new maps and locations
faster access to email and photos.
Look ,here I am,another selfie.The only beauty is a pigeon in the sun
and a black man with gentle,luminous eyes
smiling at me as he sweeps away the paper
tossed down by the blinded people
who jabber beside the coffee shop.