Download & Print
November 15, 2024
Sublime rambling
By Vicki L. George
The Bandera Prophet
English Epistle #3
January 10, 1998
Uh, oh, Hubby and I have caught each other saying some very un-Texan kind of things lately. For instance, “Would you like a bit of tea?” and “How many p for that car park?” and “Look at those lovely jumpers!”
We also found out the difference between a truck and a lorry. The word “truck” comes from the American pick up truck. They’ve become more popular here and the term got shortened to truck. So it always refers to a private vehicle. That’s as opposed to the larger commercial vehicles which are always called lorries.
Our hotel room window faces south. If I were to stand at the window and look straight out from dawn to dark, I would only have to move my head slightly to the left to see the sun rise and move it only slightly to the right to watch the sun set. At noon I wouldn’t have to move my head at all, just raise my eyes about 45 degrees above the horizon. At no time of the day is the sun straight up here since the latitude is so far north. We find that fascinating. Dawn is about 8 a.m. and dark is about 4:30 p.m., although the days are now getting a bit longer.
Christmas didn’t end here until Jan. 5 as they still observe the “12 days of Christmas.” On the sixth all the trees came down. The sales are still going strong. This year Christmas and Hanukkah overlapped and we saw the most interesting thing in Penzance and the nearby town of St. Ives as we walked along: most homes left their curtains parted to show their lit Christmas trees and their lit menorahs! I loved it! And the usual depiction of the star of Bethlehem is the six-pointed Star of David.
Last weekend Hubby and I drove to the town of Falmouth to see a castle. It is Pendennis Castle. It’s a fortress castle built by King Henry VIII in 1540. It was added onto by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, in the 1580s. It was so absolutely amazing and fascinating that I used three rolls of film! It was never used as a residence, per se, but a “governor” stayed there with a quantity of soldiers under his command. They were stationed there to defend the country by firing on any ship that would attempt to head up the Fal River. There’s the turret complete with cannons and cannonballs. There’s the spiral staircase, made completely of stone. The great doors with ornate cast iron hinges and bolts. There’s the gun-ports to fire through the walls, even some in the interior walls for the governor to fire on anyone who attempted to climb the stairs to his quarters. And the governor’s quarters — quite roomy and with a latrine, which had a hole cut in the seat, cut through the stone straight down and over the moat, with an iron grate over the opening. Of course, there were the great fireplaces in the rooms. Such thick walls that all the windows are very deep so that anyone could easily sit in them. And the view from the top was breathtaking! We could see the whole town of Falmouth and the entire surrounding countryside. The castle has always been used for defense, even through WWII when the Germans bombed the harbor there trying to destroy it.
And to the one who warned me about crossing the street, since people here drive on the “wrong” side of the road — just the other day there was an article in the newspaper about Americans who seem to have the attitude that pedestrians should have the right of way. Well, pedestrians do not have the right of way here and, in the past year, a couple have been killed just trying to cross the street. We’ve learned to look both ways, to be sure to cover our bases, and run!
We also found out the difference between a truck and a lorry. The word “truck” comes from the American pick up truck. They’ve become more popular here and the term got shortened to truck. So it always refers to a private vehicle. That’s as opposed to the larger commercial vehicles which are always called lorries.
Our hotel room window faces south. If I were to stand at the window and look straight out from dawn to dark, I would only have to move my head slightly to the left to see the sun rise and move it only slightly to the right to watch the sun set. At noon I wouldn’t have to move my head at all, just raise my eyes about 45 degrees above the horizon. At no time of the day is the sun straight up here since the latitude is so far north. We find that fascinating. Dawn is about 8 a.m. and dark is about 4:30 p.m., although the days are now getting a bit longer.
Christmas didn’t end here until Jan. 5 as they still observe the “12 days of Christmas.” On the sixth all the trees came down. The sales are still going strong. This year Christmas and Hanukkah overlapped and we saw the most interesting thing in Penzance and the nearby town of St. Ives as we walked along: most homes left their curtains parted to show their lit Christmas trees and their lit menorahs! I loved it! And the usual depiction of the star of Bethlehem is the six-pointed Star of David.
Last weekend Hubby and I drove to the town of Falmouth to see a castle. It is Pendennis Castle. It’s a fortress castle built by King Henry VIII in 1540. It was added onto by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, in the 1580s. It was so absolutely amazing and fascinating that I used three rolls of film! It was never used as a residence, per se, but a “governor” stayed there with a quantity of soldiers under his command. They were stationed there to defend the country by firing on any ship that would attempt to head up the Fal River. There’s the turret complete with cannons and cannonballs. There’s the spiral staircase, made completely of stone. The great doors with ornate cast iron hinges and bolts. There’s the gun-ports to fire through the walls, even some in the interior walls for the governor to fire on anyone who attempted to climb the stairs to his quarters. And the governor’s quarters — quite roomy and with a latrine, which had a hole cut in the seat, cut through the stone straight down and over the moat, with an iron grate over the opening. Of course, there were the great fireplaces in the rooms. Such thick walls that all the windows are very deep so that anyone could easily sit in them. And the view from the top was breathtaking! We could see the whole town of Falmouth and the entire surrounding countryside. The castle has always been used for defense, even through WWII when the Germans bombed the harbor there trying to destroy it.
And to the one who warned me about crossing the street, since people here drive on the “wrong” side of the road — just the other day there was an article in the newspaper about Americans who seem to have the attitude that pedestrians should have the right of way. Well, pedestrians do not have the right of way here and, in the past year, a couple have been killed just trying to cross the street. We’ve learned to look both ways, to be sure to cover our bases, and run!