Firstly I’d like to thank all those who hospitalised us, as one of my students once said, over our holidays - and Highland hospitality being what it is, that’s not too far out! That is, thanks to Marina and John, Anne, Susan and Ian, Diana and Ian – and, of course, Freda and Derek and Jacqui and Ali for the grand wedding reception-spreads you offered. You helped us lay down wonderful memories to look back on now the going has got tough here.
Susan wrote recently from Mull, saying it was hard to get a true picture of what was happening here – you and me, babe! We seem to hear nothing but rumours, then responses to rumours, leaving us in that category psychologists fondly term ‘the perpetual know-nothings’ – often by choice as the ‘news’ that is served up is not informative, just frustrating and distressing.
What is life like here? - time to give you a picture of our daily life under the current politico-economic conditions, for I suspect that some blog readers plug in with an expectation of reading something of that.
Recently we were invited for a family lunch: the hostess who has had her monthly income cut by about 500 euros, (this includes permanent cuts now in place, as well as retrospective deductions over the next few months) is helping support the family – her husband has been waiting for his pension to come on line since last December, which is par for the course. She supports her son, whose wife is unemployed, and whose salary is not enough for them to live on, while her self-employed daughter often works till 10pm just to catch the odd customer. Daughter is fortunate because both she and her husband are fairly securely employed but they need mum’s help to look after their young son in the afternoons. Our hostess is generous and an excellent cook; we all enjoy family-get-togethers with news-updates and, of course, the droll antics of her young grandchild. But this time the atmosphere was heavy. These are young people who are fortunate in having their own homes and a strong family support system; they should be full of fun, enjoying youth and life to the full - instead what is palpably present is their fatigue and, the worst, a sense of hopelessness. That’s the heritage that has been left for them.
We are invited to supper by friends – we are very fortunate in our friends and family! – the lady of the house has made pitta - pie - and is famous for her excellent ‘politikh kouzina’ traditional fare from Constantinople, the polis or city. They are both retired teachers and their pensions and superannuation allowances between them have been cut by about 600 euros per month. We talk of oil prices and the cost of wood, as we both have central-heating systems and open fires. Fortunately up to now our autumn has been mild and mellow so we can save on that outlay.
On the bus into town an unknown fellow-passenger suddenly begins to offload, uninvited, her perception of current events - mainly that a prominent politician is an American agent. When hard data and real information is lacking or things are non-comprehendible, often imagination takes over; where critical analysis is lacking…. Conspiracy Theory readily steps in to fill the gap. Certainly, everyone seems focused on the crisis and in a permanent state of not-knowing.
Our SAT classes happened to fall on Guy Fawkes Day last week and so during the lesson we took a little cultural detour. Some of the students had already heard of Mr Fawkes and thought intriguing the idea of wanting to blow up the Houses of Parliament, as he along with 12 others conspired to do in 1605 to replace the reigning monarch, James 1st, , by a Catholic one. Now far be it from me to condone or encourage such treasonous acts but doesn’t it seem natural that children look forward to Guy Fawkes Night with its great bonfires and firework displays. So, strange to say, we view November 5th as an enjoyable event. We may be called upon to
”Remember, remember the 5th of November – gunpowder, treason and plot’
but even if you did plot against your king and parliament and lost your life because of it, to be commemorated centuries down the line by happy children is the kind of celebrity many crave and strive for today!
I have since done my ‘homework’ and learned that on November 5th, by very Act of Parliament, the populace were encouraged to celebrate the safety of King James by lighting bonfires, so that’s all right, then. But I do love the description of Guy Fawkes, quoted in J A Sharpe’s “Remember Remember, A Cultural History of Guy Fawkes Day’ as being
‘…the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions…’.
For some reason, perhaps our recent visit to Glasgow, I keep thinking on the bell, the book and the ring, the symbols of Saint Mungo or Kentigern, the city’s patron saint. Now, reading up on this seems to indicate it was, in fact, the bell, the fish and the ring that were the symbols- I wonder where my ‘book’ came from?
In a nutshell: here, the warning BELL is certainly ringing. We have been lurching from one crisis to another, waiting for the decision from Brussels, that came, then the mooted plebiscite, which was then decided against - or was that plebicide? as this is really killing us!! At any rate, the EU decided they would BAIL us out, which fairly and squarely puts the BALL in our court. We know that it is us, the plebs, who are footing the BILL, so let’s just get on with it and have some action instead of gassing. We are weary of hearing what measures will be taken, without any change in the system being effected, the deductions from our salaries and pensions going ….we know not where. Now we have had a vote of confidence passed, but a defecting Prime Minister, and now the formulation of some kind of Coalition. We’ve been waiting for what seems like ages for the outcome, but black smoke is still being emitted on that, indicating no final decisions have been made yet.(The papal election metaphor seems apposite as Mr Berlusconi is now taking some of the heat!) So all we can do is wait for the next ……news BULLetin!
In the meantime, we carry on with our own routine. H has been pruning non-fruit-bearing olive branches with a little help. They say that cats adopt you and this is certainly true of our neighbours’ cats who see our two adjacent plots as their entire domain. They accompany us both at work and at rest. I realize we have had no pictures so far so here you are : one entitled ‘at work’; the other ‘retirement’!
C’est la vie!
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