rhianprime

Jan 30, 20213 min read

It's positively Arctic!

Apologies I have just discovered the blog didn't go out this morning as it should have. I hope this belated appearance hasn't spoiled your Saturday!

For the last of our snowy cold trips out I thought we could pop over to the Arctic. We were very very North last week but though we would look specifically at glaciers, icebergs, animals and such like today.

Hope you are dressed warmly and ready for the off!

This is a Greenpeace ship and gives us a starter taste and makes us think about our role as stewards of our God given world.

Arctic wildlife is quite amazing both in Summer and Winter. There is much more to it than we expect and surprises round each and every corner so to speak. There brief video gives a bit of a taste.

Our final trip on this day out is a quite a short one but most spectacular. It is to see icebergs, some beyond belief and coloured in whites, greens and blues. To see such shapes and icy beauty makes us think to again about our stewardship

"Why So Blue? National Geographical

Some glaciers and icebergs are blue, for the same reason water is blue. The chemical bond between oxygen and hydrogen in water absorbs light in the red end of the visible light spectrum.

Blue glaciers and icebergs are not blue for the same reason the sky is blue. The sky is blue due to atmospheric scattering of light (Raleigh scattering), a different phenomenon."

"Iceberg Prose - National Geographic

The American novelist Ernest Hemingway is famous for his writing style of short sentences. Hemingway, in fact, compared his writing style to icebergs. Just like an iceberg remains largely unseen beneath the surface, a writer can leave parts of a story unwritten. Hemingway believed the reader would understand and be affected by the unwritten parts of a story as well as parts that were actually written."

Do you agree with Hemingway?

Finally today did you already know these Arctic facts and do you now feel like the Arctic beckons you maybe from the warmth and comfort of a cruise ship or maybe just from your armchair? Follow the below link to test your knowledge!

https://www.cruise.co.uk/bulletin/10-things-about-the-arctic-you-never-wouldve-guessed/

I received this message this week and thought I would share its contents with the senders permission. Thank you!

"A magpie came and sat on next doors roof this morning

l was a bit worried at first because as you all know the rhyme!! it’s one for sorrow two for joy !! I shouldn’t have worried as a couple of minutes later its partner joined him .

So hopefully this day will be filled with joy. "

They are birds with a bit of an unsavoury repetition but are so beautiful. A menace to many, but a reminder too that we have to get on with all, pleasant and not so pleasant!

This is great fun from Tyann and many thanks. Should make you smile this Saturday and perhaps try playing it and share your responses. I am on the look out for that rarity these days a mail van!

Llantwit Lotto

In these different days, or even before, I have a harmless habit that sometimes causes me gentle amusement.

Llantwit is a friendly place and people greet each other, even strangers (people you haven’t met yet)

There is a range of greetings depending on the time of day, the weather, the age and gender of the passer-by.

I try to judge what the appropriate greeting would be

Good morning- rather formal

Morning- less so

Good afternoon- very formal

Afternoon- slightly odd

Hi there- for younger people

Hiya – for young males perhaps

Lovely day – when it is

What a wet day- when it is

Hello- all -purpose greeting

Stop and talk, socially distanced when it’s someone you know.

The game is to match greetings and score a point- silently of course.

(I suppose you could lose a point if you get no response at all – this can happen when it’s a young person talking on their phone- disconcerting if they are hands-free and seem to be speaking to you!)

Also, lose a point if you get a mismatch and try not to shout Bingo when your greetings match.

It’s been a long time in lockdown…

Previously, I played a game over the TV news when I had to see 7 objects in the background of reports from London streets. I wasn’t listening to the news but trying to see. (A symptom of OCD perhaps.)