A goal of my blogging is to not write too much that is personal. However, this month I must break that rule. A couple of weeks ago my daughter gave birth to her first child, and therefore our first grandchild. The boy and mother are doing well, and we have seen them briefly. This new life is quite miraculous. I had forgotten how tiny and fragile newborns are!
Tag Archives: Norwich
Durban winter is the best time of the year
I have just had 10 glorious weeks in Durban. I travelled over in mid-May and came back to the UK at the end of July. I barely left Durban during this period. The only trip from the city was to Hilton, just outside Pietermaritzburg for lunch with people who attended Waterford. Most were a year or two younger than me, and I had not seen some for more than 50 years. It affirmed the value of the Waterford education and values for all of us.
Cool Nights and Warm Days
May is one of the best months to be in Durban. The day-time temperature is in the low to mid-twenties, it is cool enough at night for a light blanket, and the days are gloriously sunny. Having said that, I recently started my day in a short sleeved light shirt and shorts, by lunchtime I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and trousers and wondering if a jersey might be necessary! Fortunately, the day warmed up.
Summer is Starting
I normally make notes for my monthly post jotting down interesting or unusual events from life or world news. This month I pondered my opening paragraph and decided to begin by talking about ‘the yips’. It is a phrase I have not heard in an age. In one of his more bizarre statements Donald Trump referred to peoples’ responses to his curious policies as ‘getting the yips’. The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines it as ‘a state of nervous tension affecting an athlete (such as a golfer) in the performance of a crucial action.’
Theatre and Books
It has been an intense month for international events, most emanating from North America. As I write it seems that there may be a trade war brewing thanks to the tariffs Trump’s government wants to impose on Canada, Mexico and China. Lenin is reputed to have said “there are decades when nothing happens, and then weeks when decades happen”. That is how January felt to me. I begin this blog with some reflections on the situation the world finds itself in. Then, because this is all quite depressing, and beyond my control, I will move on to events, books and other things that have made life in Norwich worthwhile.
At the end of the year
The Norwich Anglican Cathedral is massive, ancient, and central to the city. On Christmas eve it was absolutely packed for the 3.30 pm service and procession. Ailsa and I were early enough to get seats, albeit ones where all we could see of the procession were the tops of banners and the bishop’s mitre! Technology means I can share a link. The inability to see did not detract from the occasion.
As we move to the end of the year
Christmas is only a few weeks away and it is time for an update to my blog. I don’t want this to become purely a record of health issues, but I have had a rotten time recently.
The reality is that, as we age, ill-health becomes more likely and recovery is slower. I am, again, suffering from an abscess in the fleshy part of my backside. This is technically a peri-anal abscess, not, as I said to my shame at one consultation, a peri-natal abscess. It is a second instalment of the same malady that put me in hospital in Durban a year ago.1
Back in Norwich for Books
I got back to Norwich on Sunday 13th October 2024 after four months in Durban. I had a great time there. It included a week’s side trip to Cape Town. Winter in Durban is the best time of year, a progression of sunny, warm days. It was perfect for walking. I completed my Waterford Challenge, and kept walking!
Swallows and Sunbirds
Last month I reported my Waterford challenge – walking 280 kilometres in a month – was successfully completed. This month I can confirm that I raised the target amount. When I signed up, in 2023, my goal was to raise R67,000, R1,000 for every year I had been alive. Unfortunately, I had some health issues,1 so only embarked on the challenge on 16th June 2024. Given the delay and the passing of another birthday, I felt morally obliged to raise at least R68,000.
Enjoying Spring
In May our Norwich bird life was amazing. I am going to spend the first few paragraphs writing about it. My favourite birds have always been swallows and swifts. Sadly there are no swallows in this part of Norwich but there are swifts, and even a Norwich Swift Facebook page.1 In the summer months we get swifts returning from Africa for, what seem like, fleeting visits, roughly from May to late August. A few years ago, we had swift nest boxes installed under the eaves to encourage them. So far, they have not taken up our offer.
Alan Whiteside 