Like a Longfin Eel

This is the up side of lockdown easing... meeting new people... having awkward conversations. I have had three seperate conversations with people here who have family in NZ. All three state that this family connection has a deer farm about an hour south of Christchurch, for the velvet.  All three deny knowledge of the other two, and swear they're not related to the other two. Which leads me to the conclusion that there are multiple farms about an hour south of Christchurch, owned by Brits, growing velvet. Which actually isn't that much of a stretch now that I think on it. I forget that the two degrees of separation thing is more of an NZ (and Irish) thing.  Below is a picture of the caller in a Dragon Boat of the team I have joined. They train three times a week and I can only come to one, but its still good, hard work and fun, and with the length of the days as they are at the moment, we finish our sessions with a race as the sun sets.  The view of any town from the wate...

I scanned in the other day when I got ice cream. Not because it will do any good here (no one scans, and no one contact traces). But because it felt like the right thing to do. A very kiwi thing to do. My house officer today did a very impressive kiwi accent based on having watched hunt for the wilderpeople several times. I love that that movie is what represents us now.  That, and flight of the concords. She and the other house officer on started singing... "Calling bowie, to bowie..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8f_XCH3zmM

It was a delight to visit Dr Felicity Mussel (who I had first met when I was a medical student in Bangladesh). She is now 7 years retired (which blows my mind) and lives next door to a very sweet park in Weston super-mare. Weston was built up in earnest in the 1800s out of local stone, when the trains arrived and people wanted to holiday at the sea. I get the sense that it’s not really a place people consider visiting anymore, which is a shame I think, it’s a sweet town. I loved the stone buildings which made even Felicity’s small apartment seem like a castle. She is a church bell ringer; and for Prince Phillips funeral, she and 4 others socially distantly rang bells leading up to the service; as apparently all bell ringers were up and down the UK. She explained in detail how they would adjust their ringing style to account for the sound difference of only having 5 ringers rather than 8. I waited in the park while she did this and people watched a bit- self assured four-year-olds...

I feel very lucky to have housemates that are so keen on the outdoors. On another post-nights adventure, I got taken to Otterton, near east Budleigh where Eurasian Beavers have been re-introduced to Devon.   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_beaver https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/06/englands-first-wild-beavers-for-400-years-allowed-to-live-on-river-otter https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/what-we-do/our-projects/river-otter-beaver-trial Even without the beaver-chewed trees, dams and promise of the large rodents; it was an incredible dusk to be out in. The sun set over the hills past some dairy farms, there were pheasants in the fields. Crows were gathering in the sky above a stand of huge trees full of nests and a cormorant came into land on the perfectly smooth water of the river that reflected the banks’ red dirt and white flowering bushes. People were walking down the wide dirt path, some clearly just doing their usual daily walk, others were ...

 My very kind housemate took me to Tintagel today - where we were able to meet her parents and go for a walk.  I was post night shifts so half in a fug and not going anywhere in a hurry - but the track seemed made for that pace, ambling up and over ridges and gullies with the ocean horizon stretching wide from the GCHQ spy satellite outcrop in the north (Near Bude), past a wee island with puffins on (Lundy), and out to the vastness west from there.  (It was strange knowing that Ireland is somewhere "out there" *Waves arm*).  It was about an hours drive west from Exeter, a real treat to get out and explore without much brain power required on my part (but lots of careful planning from the master picnickers, Rebecca and her folks). Tintagel is a lovely wee tourist town that is pretty empty at the moment, awaiting the formal lifting of lockdown that will allow people to wander inside the sweet and craft shops, to buy crystals or pay for a photo of your aura (!). Tintage...