Naughty Moments

Budding graffiti artist young Jeffery famous as jeffs_jaunts on Instagram

It’s true that we all have naughty moments occasionally. When it is our pets we think it’s funny. It generally is, though on Sunday when my cat indirectly caused me to trip over on the paving outside in the garden, I gathered a handful of cuts and bruises. My daughter’s young dog Jeffrey who is, still a puppy is always making people laugh with his antics and his very own Instagram page: jeffs_jaunts.

Yet sometimes it’s the grown up people who surprise us all with the odd fit of the funnies. I have mentioned a solid new concrete wall fronting a set of new farm buildings in Angmering Park Estate which they tastefully painted a soft green to cause a lesser amount of complaints. Well, that was the proverbial red rag to the bull to the locals wasn’t it? They started very quickly to pick up one of the trillion-million-gazillion pieces of chalk that are everywhere on the surface there abouts or indeed along the whole of the South Downs where flint and chalk are happily married. There is no need to bring spray paint with art supplies so readily available for low talent level graffiti.

Not guilty, its a greeting TO us

This diary of mine is full to bursting with triathlon training details and nature study notes made while my husband/coach, run 28-30 miles per week, on the normally extremely well managed estate. Our time to run is dawn, when it is most quiet and most beautiful in the early light, as is Arundel Castle seen in the distance from a number of places, where it catches the first rays of the sun on its turrets, crenelations and stained glass windows.

We were there again this morning hoping to get our run in before the rain that was not forecast to arrive until past 8 am. It was looking threatening when we arrived with a quite impressive shelf cloud to the North West. None the less we started off on the most standard of our run routes that starts close to the new farm building, passing the new graffiti wall that folk are so enjoying, and traveling along The Monarchs Way and looping back over the hills and downs, by the gallops and back to the start.

My daughter and son in law also pass that way sometimes walking with young Jeffery while the talented professional photographer Jacqueline takes the most wonderful photographs as they wander. We had discussed the graffiti with them on previous meetings, particularly the funny ones about Jack Upperton who robbed the post coach close by in 1771, was sent for trial, and sentenced to be hung in Horsham. After death he was tarred and placed in a fitted metal gibbet to be hung at the scene of the crime as a deterrent. 

Who me?

 During our first chat about that with Jacqueline and Martin all noted that the graffiti was incorrect since it its original scrawl it said Jack Upperton hung around here * and gibbeted.

I have now discovered that my daughter and son in law went there for one of their outings but decided not only to correct the mistake themselves but to add a greeting for us to see when next we ran by! “Hello Steve and Daf” plus a funny little fat running creature.  Naughtiness indeed.

The information that went with the Garmin route print off shown, gave us two new PB’s. Best mile and best kilometre were in there somewhere as we ran today, probably on the downhill back to the start.