2023 September 06

                It is September, when days usually get cooler, and the skies begin to fill with clouds.  Over the course of the summer months, most of Europe has experienced some of the deadliest days of heat ever recorded.  Here in England the days have felt autumnal, cool and frequently overcast.  Now, England is experiencing Indian Summer, with clear skies, burning sun and energy-stealing heat. 

                I’ve been intending to share an amusing incident that happened in July

                On 3^rd July, after 10:00 p.m., I hooked the leash on Maisy to make our last circuit of the quad for the night, before going to bed.  Tree branches waved in the gentle breeze. We usually go out the back door; and that means I can’t see the size of shape of the moon immediately.  We walked along the pavement; Maisy occasionally stopping to sniff or pee.  As we came around the corner of the third block of flats, I stopped in my tracks. 

A full moon shone like a bright, polished pearl against a mid-night blue, velvet sky.  Momentarily I forgot about everything else but the beauty of the view.  Lacy white and grey clouds were teased apart by the wind, like a lacey shawl across the face of the moon.  As I stood there, soaking in the sight, feeling the coolness of the breeze, I breathed in deeply. 

From the bottom of the moon, through the clouds, three red blinking lights began an arced course across the face of the moon. 

“Santa Claus!”  I blurted, startling myself.  “Where did that come from?”

I am not a strong proponent of the Santa Claus propaganda associated with Christmas. (I suppose I will now have to explain my position about Santa Claus and St. Nicolas in a later blog!)

 But I could only burst out laughing at the irony of my reaction to a truly magical moment. 

“I think I’ve watched too many Santa movies!”  I justified my comment to myself.  It is a good thing not to take myself too seriously.  The red twinkles were the lights on the bottom of an aeroplane, heading in to land at Heathrow Airport!