Mundane Observations From A Wandering Mind

A car enthusiast once abused Wordsworth when he wrote:

'I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills
When all at once I heard a souun
Of nails being rattled around in a bloody great tin can
under the bonnet of some dodgy looking Triumph.'

The Daffodils set off this little ditty which was written by someone attached to the Triumph Dolomite Club. It  set my mind wandering of in the direction of the ridiculous as I walked around the local beauty spots and passed the rusty abandoned car.

'Everytime I walk past here,' I said to one of my children, 'I start humming the theme tune from The Dambusters. Don't you think so?'

'No,' she replied. 'More like the Titanic. Look here comes an iceberg.' For an instant I thought she was right before the white blob in the water revealed itself to be a half-submerged white plastic cattle feed bag.

And this is a typical example of the lamentable state of some country roads. However, it makes me think of Joan Lunden, the vintage anchor of the TV programme 'Good Morning America'. To be honest, I don't think much about her, just about her aptly titled book:

'A Bend In The Road Is Not The End Of The Road',

It is just perfect for this stretch of damaged tarmac.

This warning sign on a farm gate is a reminder of how awkward scrapmen have been through history. The arrival of scrap metal dealers in the South Atlantic ignited the Falklands War. Today the price of scrap seems to be encouraging the melting down of every piece of copper, bronze or other metals, regardless of where or to what they are nailed to.

I met a scrap metal dealer once near London once whose security was a live jaguar with a diamond collar, chained to a hut close to the front gate. He never suffered any theft.

It is on a walk that my mind wanders the most and I get the best thoughts and ideas. It is a good way to clear the mind. Try it. Apply something silly to something you see.

Accentuate the bizarre. Then you will be like me. No. Cancel that. Maybe that is not such a good idea.