Advent 2016
An old Chinese curse says, “may you live in
interesting times!” Well I rather feel what with BREXIT, Trump, the refugee
crisis caused also by the wars in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the situation
over the Crimea and the Ukraine, and the political situation in Turkey we have been given it in Spades! What worries
me too, is the way the Press in Britain has played a part in the rise of hate,
racism and what amounts to fascism. Their manner of reporting is at best
scandalous and at worst amounts to a crime. The future looks gloomy and dire,
yet I have faith in the good in most humans and pray that we will weather the
storm that is sure to come from all this.
Do write and tell me how you feel about the USA and
their choice of President and what Brexit means for you. I fear for America and
the world, for they may have just, like Germany in the 1930s, unleashed a monster which they cannot control.
It was a big mistake of the Democrat Party not to choose Bernie Sanders as the
guy to go against Trump. After a Black President they were not ready for a
female and especially not Clinton! If racism has risen despite a Black
President what will happen now with a fascist and sexist at the helm?
The future for the UK looks dire or not depending
on whether you are a Brexiteer or a Remoaner, as they seem now to be called. I
am the latter! In my view you cannot leave a club and expect still to have all
the benefits of membership! The club will not countenance such a thing. So I
hope that the UK government trigger article 50 soon and then realise how bad it
really will be and put the whole negotiated
question back to the people.
Perhaps then the 12m odd people who did not bother to vote will also get
off their bums and now do so. The moral of the tale is be careful what you wish
for!
My knees add to this equation on a very personal
level and have also caused me much pain and heartache! First having to give up
on my border walk was hard, but then more or less just sitting around, getting
fat in the process, and waiting for doctor’s appointments was frustrating to
say the least. So much so that I feel Christmas has crept up on me a bit too
soon!
My right knee has lost most if not all of the
cartilage on the left inside part and, though the pain is bearable, I am not
able to hike any great distance with it. All the time I have been hobbling I
have strained the left knee which now is also not able to hike great distances.
Even cycling is painful on the knees! All in all a miserable state of affairs
for an infantryman!!!
So mechanical failure in this ’46 Model Rolls-can-‘ardly has shocked me to my core for I have suddenly
felt very, very old!! Hobbling up and down steps has done it for me. I can’t do
all the things I want to and now have to make compromises. I have maintained
that I have the heart of a 12 year old boy, out for adventure and excitement.
One who wants to discover the world anew like Columbus, or travel into darkest
Africa to photograph (not shoot) the wild life like Quartermain. To my further dismay
I have the eyes and sexual appetite of a 25 year old, but fully realise that my
broken down body is that of a 70 year old so all these things are unrealistic!
My one consolation is that I am not alone, for I am sure nearly every other 70
year old feels as I do!
But I am ever optimistic and am hoping that a
replacement knee OP in the first part of next year, will give me a new lease of
life and that I can go on my adventures again. On the basis of one knee at a
time, I hope the right knee will be done before Easter. Then it may well be
wait and see. Perhaps the left will calm down and I can hike with it? If I have
my way then I will attempt to hike the Camino Portuguese after Easter on new
knees!
In July I also hope to sail in UK waters with my
Army chums for a week or so; in August I
plan with my chum Jürgen, to continue our paddle down the Weser. (No knees
needed) The first weekend in September I am organising the annual reunion of
the Old Comrades of the Nienburg Crew, hopefully in the Cologne/Bonn area.
Let me finish by wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and New Year
filled with hope, good health and much laughter.
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