Cowboy coals to Newcastle?
You meet an old friend in the High Street, quite a busy and much-improved place nowadays, and they always seem to launch into a diatribe about the weather!
‘It’s too cold or it’s too hot. It’s too dry or it’s too wet. It’s already getting dark in the evenings.’ Such negativity I have noted about many things in life these days. Too dark? Buy a torch! Too cold? Buy a puffer jacket from the many to choose from in charity shops. Too wet? Buy an umbrella!
I have heard several worrying concerns regarding the new seaside attractions and its future. More negativity! Wait and see, it’s new and may appear from some angles to be a little barren. The hardy shrubs and bushes freshly planted and the banks seeded will, over this year and into spring, show the way it will eventually. Yes, it will take time, but it will be worth the waiting.
I am British born and bred – unless I have been misled! A Brit and proud to be so and even prouder to be a Sussex man. I do not need to be reminded of that. These are things I know and I don’t need a flag to remind me of these facts, so why the Union and St George flags flying all over the place?
I may be wrong but I sense something a little sinister about all of the flag waving at his particular moment in our troubled times. I hope my fears are unfounded but just a reminder here when the red crossed banner of St George is unfurled or painted on a roundabout: St George was either an Italian or a Greek, the Dragon business was a moral allegory and it is very doubtful that St George ever set foot on our hallowed shores!
Coals to Newcastle? An American publisher wants to publish my western novels in the USA. Good news, but he thinks an interview will help the launch. After all, English writers of the genre are not usual and the US has a wealth of such writers. Successful here but unheard of among fans in the US. So, all good news but there was a small snag, they wanted to do it via Zoom. I have not the foggiest idea of how that works but sought the help of my son who, after the usual deep sigh, offered to run me through it. Too complicated for me I told him, and he agreed. He reduced it to only one key to press when the time came, which it did, and low and behold in one brief moment I was Zooming across the Atlantic and looking to be a complete master of the universe! Sadly, I have already forgotten most of that which he taught me but he will rally again to my cause should I need him. That’s part of what a good son is for I guess, payback time!