Hunger Games !

After a pleasantly restful nine weeks at Newport, a period of turbulence is fast approaching, so I am packing things in before the next upheaval. It would have been Cherry's birthday at the weekend, on 24th November and she wouldn't have wanted any of us to mope, so we didn't. By the wonders of modern technology, thanks to Beth and Chiff, I was able to participate in a spectacular family food and firework party at Chateau Powell in Burgess Hill, even watching the triumphant launch of a culminating mega rocket - apparently to the great danger of passing aeroplanes.

My own commemorative acts were of a quieter more reflective nature, doing two things that Cherry loved - first some 'birding' as the Americans call it at Sachuset Point nature reserve on a glorious brisk sunny day. To be honest, not with much success though I was aware of being under the unyielding gaze of a red-tailed hawk

 

perched on the top of the visitor centre, getting only a departing shot of a Mocking Bird and some distant ones of immature Eider duck across a sparkling sea.

The other act was a guided tour of Belcourt Mansion which is directly opposite my place. Both house share one characteristic, being built to house horses and carriages on the ground floor, hence the little square windows in my sitting room - where the horse stalls were.  The Mansion obviously was on a much grander scale. I enjoyed my tour - as it was a personal one just me and the guide. We had mutual acquaintances too.  The mansion was in the process of restoration (being over 100 years old- gosh !) and it was interesting learning about that. But it was also great learning about the famous wedding held here a few weeks ago, some of which I watched in a bemused kind of way from one of the spare bedrooms looking down on the gates to the drive and the crowd of fans outside. The bride was the famous Jennifer Lawrence who played in 'Hunger Games' and also as the ferocious young lady in 'Red Sparrow' which I've watched a couple of times on plane journeys. She was the highest female earner in 2105 and 2106. At the time I knew none of this. $250,000 on the flowers alone I was told. Only 150 guests though, with everyone behaving very well apparently. By the agreement, the house is not allowed to capitalise on this - no mention in the literature, no pictures, just a little bit of informal gossip, now and then. I was reassured that my guide hadn't heard of Jennifer Lawrence before either !

The only upheaval at work was Trump's sacking of the Navy Secretary, Richard Spencer. So both the Admiral who supervised my arrival at Newport and the Navy Secretary who gave me my prize in the Summer have been dismissed. Is Trump trying to tell me something ?

I managed another hike to the Reject's beach wanting to get a shot of that weird crab like shell- a foot across- that I came across last time. Showing it around I was told it was just a Horseshoe Crab shell. Inedible they said.  There was a really cold wind and the place was completely deserted as it was Thanksgiving Day and everyone was tucked up inside their houses. Later in the day I joined some colleagues for the Thanksgiving dinner. It is supposed to celebrate the  feast of the first pilgrims in 1621 with a bunch of local Indians who plainly didn't know what they were letting themselves in for. President Washington started the custom in 1789 but it didn't catch on until President Lincoln revived it after the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. Just a little bit of trivia.  There's also the legend that times were so hard for the settlers that hunger stalked the land and so there was celebration when someone spotted and caught their first wild turkey. I'm guessing that it was a tough old thing but better than nothing. Accordingly turkey has to be the centrepiece - and was, with all the trimmings.   

Hunger if of a different sort was also the name of the game for the following several days (which a lot of people take off), as Christmas, seems to start immediately afterwards: the decorations go up and everyone surges into the shops on 'Black Friday.' I went to the charming little fishing village of Wickford to see their Dickensian village decorations. In fact they hardly showed up in the bright sunlight but it was nice looking at the old wooden houses again. One local device is to close inside shutters and place little houses with lights in the gaps between them and the window.

It probably looks spectacular after dark. My visit ended with my satisfying my own hunger by having a lunch out and sitting at the counter of the local very crowded restaurant. I indulged in some fish and chips, and it was the best I've had for ages. I was sitting in front of the wall-mounted television and so could hardly avoid watching a football match between Southampton and Watford ! Getting me ready for a return to the UK, perhaps.