The Longest Day

Here in the UK we are now past the longest day, it's all down hill from here.  Until recently I didn't understand why the longest day didn't correspond with the hottest part of the year.  I listen to BBC radio 4 as I drive and I glean some interesting facts as I listen.  Apparently the heat continues to build after the passing of the longest day because the atmosphere is gaining temperature faster than it cools for about eight weeks so it doesn't start to cool until the length of sunlight is short enough to allow more cooling than the heat received.  I probably haven't explained that very well but that's the gist of the reason.  I found that fascinating, perhaps I'm just sad.

Promise of Summer

The first swallows were back with us last Monday and are gradually building up in numbers as they return from their wintering grounds.  As always I heard the chatter before seeing the birds themselves.  What amazing little birds they are, to navigate all the way from Africa coming back to their summer homes each year.  Sadly there seem to be less of them than I remember as a child and I'm sure it isn't my memory playing tricks.  I suppose there are less suitable nest sites as old buildings have been repaired, demolished or reused and the access blocked.  I find it very sad that such an emblem of our summer is slowly dwindling away.  I don't think I would want to live in a world that doesn't include the chatter of swallows as they hawk for insects through the summer months and line up chattering on the wires before departing for the winter.  What a sad world it would be.

Some Things I Don't Do

My father used to smoke, read a newspaper and drink tea.  All three seemed to make him miserable or perhaps he was just normally miserable and these habits didn't help.  I suspect that I associate all three activities with being miserable and grumpy so I avoid the first two and only drink tea occasionally.  I have never even tried smoking, not even as a teenager and I have no intention of trying now.  Spending good money to buy a dried plant leaf then burn it rolled in paper and inhale the smoke seems a rather strange and pointless habit, especially as it can enhance the chances of lung cancer.  Yes its a great idea isn't it?  As for newspapers, the only use I have ever had for a newspaper is to light the fire and I have found fire lighters work better.  Reading a newspaper as a way of keeping up to date with current affairs is a very poor choice, all you get is one persons view of the event and this is always biased to what he or his editor wishes to portray. I get my information on current affairs by not listening or half listening to the radio while I am driving, by not really listening to several different stations throughout the day I get an overall picture from the little that passes into my conscious brain of what is happening.  It works for me!  As for drinking tea, I do this occasionally, less than once a week.  I don't really have anything against tea though I am not sure if I like it best black or white, with or without sugar. But to put it simply I prefer coffee.   I don't know that the above behaviour makes me any less miserable than my father but I do hope it does.

A Swift, Where?

At this time of year I am looking to see the first swallow returning from the wintering grounds in Africa.  I find these brave little birds amazing and always look forward to their return.  The funny thing is I almost always hear the first swallow before I see it, they seem to delight in sitting on a roof top or electricity line and chattering their joy at coming home.  Though I don't consciously try I find my ears are tuned to any sound that approximates the chatter of a swallow, twice in the last few days I have started searching as a sound similar that of a swallow has caught my attention.  But that isn't what I want to tell of, I was in Carlton store unloading my truck when a bird sound caught my attention and it wasn't a swallow, it was the scream of a swift.  I couldn't believe my ears and started searching the sky for the author of the scream fully expecting to see the earliest arriving swift I have ever seen.  The scream was repeated, then repeated again, I finally located the source of the sound.  Just across the road sitting on a wire was a starling and as well as its usual song it was occasionally throwing in the scream of a swift  as a variation.  This isn't the first time I've been fooled by a starling but I've never heard one mimic a swift before, a duck and a magpie but never a swift.  I suspect that the bird was raised in a nest in close proximity to nesting swifts and had copied the sound as only a starling can.

Disgusting disregard for our countryside.

As I have mentioned my day job is as a multi drop delivery driver for a North Yorkshire agricultural supply company and in the course of my work I get to see some of the most beautiful countryside in Yorkshire or even in the UK.  I regularly stop for a break in one of two pull off's on the road running through Hovingham woods, on a clear day the view from the cab is well worth looking over.  On Friday I pulled off the road in the first pull off to re-tighten a sheet strap and glanced to my left.  What I saw is in the picture below.

The view is obscured by the mist but what is in full view is the rubbish that has been dumped. Some brainless scum couldn't be bothered to drive to the local tip and in a fit of extreme idleness tipped the unwanted plastic rubbish at the side of the road.  My sympathy for this behaviour is such that I would not hang draw and quarter the offender, if found, I would simply have them put down with the same chemical that is used on dogs as I see no advantage it causing unnecessary suffering, but it is a close thing.  Our countryside deserves better treatment and more respect than is shown by the actions of the scum who did this.  

Orchard and New Blog

When I started writing this blog I had intended to include the trials and tribulations of my fumbling attempts to establish an orchard in the paddock behind our house.  But after some consideration and some thought on the title of this blog I have decided to start another new blog which will be a record of my mistakes and gradual learning while working with my trees.  So for anyone who wishes to follow my progress or lack of it please check my new blog which can be found at the following address.
http://www.normanbyorchard.blogspot.co.uk/

UK Alone ?

There would appear to be some debate as to whether the UK should leave the EU and go it alone. I suspect this point of view is fermented  by pathetic politicians who assume that they will gain a little extra notice if they are able to parade themselves on a smaller stage.  I wonder if the politicians may possibly be having their egos massaged and polished by other interested parties who are terrified that if the UK joins the EU fully and adopts the Euro they will have one less currency to gamble with and generally distort and mess up.  As any reader may gather from this I am strongly pro EU and our membership of the same.  I believe that being part of Europe and playing our part in the decision making is preferable by far to the way our relationship with the other countries of Europe has been conducted since the time of the Romans and possibly long before.   I remember discussing some problem or other with the owner of an agricultural supply business several years ago and the gentleman in question said that he had hope for a better brighter future and his reasoning was as follows.  "To get here you have travelled from one village, crossed a river bridge, passed through another village and come here.  At one time you may have had to fight the locals in the first village to pass through, pay an exorbitant toll charge to cross the river and possibly get robbed mid river then fight for right of passage through the next village and all before you got here.  Now you are able to get from your home to here with non of these problems.  It has got easier and much safer to travel that small distance, that is progress."
While his example was a little extreme the point he was illustrating was well made, things appear to be improving albeit slowly.  I believe this illustrates clearly why we should remain part of the EU and even integrate with the Euro.  Talking is better and much less wasteful than fighting.  I also hate the idea that if I wish to spend my money in another EU country I have to exchange it for Euros and in doing so have to pay someone for the privilege, thereby enabling me to spend my money in another country. It seems to me that the money traders who facilitate this exchange actually produce nothing of any value, they feed no one, cloth no one and educate no one.  In other words when I exchange money I pay someone for facilitating something that should be unnecessary in a descent world.  Its high time we adopted the Euro, it will be a good start, and could be seen as our first move towards a world currency.  I believe we are better off as part of the EU, not only that but we should be taking a very active part in the decision making.  If we don't take care now we will find ourselves left on the outside begging to be let in.