Scribblers, scribbling more

 The County flower of Sussex, Rampion, also know as the Pride of Sussex.

The huge wind farm that stands off the Sussex coast is named after this little flower.

Scribblers, scribbling more

Sunday afternoon in our house was a lot of fun since it was the date in all our diaries for our monthly meeting of Scribblers. With all the talk about the dreadful Corona virus being so contagious, some members decided not to come. I had given the house a good old birthday and hygienically wiped down all the door handles and the chairs, toilets etc. that we would be using for the afternoon. All the cups and mugs and the tea pot, sugar bowl and table had been sterilized. That was all just as much for my benefit as for theirs. Maybe all that is a bit extreme…. But then again, maybe not. Round two, took place once everybody had gone.

We dispensed with the hugs and cheek kissing as advised. Hand washing has been a major pass time.

I have seen a lot of posts on FB saying that it is all stupid nonsense, since people die of flu every winter and others die of Cancer and heart conditions and sadly there are a lot of suicides. But, this is a nasty virus that spitefully seems to have selected older people and/or those with pre-existing medical conditions to wipe out.  Well then, I fit in there, so I am taking the suggested precautions and people can laugh if they want to. I will be 81 this year and I have Asthma. Still…. looking at me and seeing or hearing about all the multi discipline sports that I do, one would say that I am very fit and a picture of health and that is true.

We are all entitled to our opinions and I am on the side of Captain Sensible. So I will do what I can to keep clear of the people who are still taking no notice of the NHS advice and doing whatever they want and traveling wherever and whenever they want. In my view, they are the potty ones, and as my final word for today on the subject, they are the dangerous ones too. 

Back to our poetry afternoon: It is a great delight to me that our two newest members, dragged along by enthusiastic friends a couple of meetings ago, both read poems that they had written themselves. Fantastic. That did put a big smile on my face, that they did not just suffer a poetry meeting that they would never have gone to on their own, but appear to have enjoyed it and been inspired to try their hand at writing something themselves.

I usually read something that I have written since the last time, as an ice breaker, since nobody ever wants to start off the proceedings. Well I can do that and don’t mind at all being the first to get up and read. Two of them again recited something they had learnt by heart and I have to say that we all find that more challenging. In the few months since one of us suggested that we give it a try, and I am fairly sure that it was not me, although I have been accused of starting that extra pressure. It isn’t though, because you can do it or not do it; there is no rules about that. 

What I do think is that it is very good for us to try to learn a few poems by heart. A benefit of it, if you of it should need one, is that you will never be bored again sitting waiting for an appointment or waiting for the bus or the train or your dinner date. I say this with absolute surety since I now just recite the ones that I have taken great pains to learn. I say them in my head or even out loud if I can without being stared at as if I am mad, and do so when ever I need to keep myself, my head at least, occupied.  

One of our members Shuna le Moine, has been working on a children’s book and is hoping to get it published at some point, hopefully soon.
The book title is Billy Bradshaw's Book.
Illustrated by Chris Hahner.
There is also music composed by Peter Pearson.

Shuna played a recording of her reading a chapter of it. We were all seriously impressed since the story idea was absolutely enchanting; she also has a friend who has done some delightfully artistic illustrations for her work. I for one cannot wait to see and hear the finished book. 

Here is another nice surprise of the afternoon, it is a poem by our newest member Sylvia Ellison who also swims with Steve and I at our triathlon club session. The added bonus of this poem is that we learnt something that we did not know before Sylvia told us. The poem is called Rampion and concerns the Rampion Wind Farm that we can all see on a clear day from the beach locally. Although I have lived in Sussex much of my live, I did not know that the wild Rampion, is the county flower or indeed that that was the name of a little native wild flower! Well I never, how come I missed that little gem out of my local knowledge?

Rampion by Sylvia Ellison

The grey shadows turn, as if in slow, perpetual motion

The breeze, is strong enough today

Electrons flow, under the ocean

To rise, and allow us to live our way

Great wings that span, 55 metres

Rotate in sync, above the sea

Built in rows, what could be neater

They work all day, to let us be

8 miles from our shore, we can hardly see it 

On days, when the mist settles low

Despite invisibility, our appliances use it

The fact it’s there, is nice to know

On frosty days, it’s crisp and clear

White towers rise, from the ocean blue

But distant enough, so not to hear

The work it does, for me and you

So let’s be grateful for the pride of Sussex

Named after the flower, of our county

It’s important to us, not a suffix

A joy to see, and use its bounty