Back to normal..........or what passes for normal here.

I have now safely returned from my holiday in Cornwall, well I say safely but that might be no thanks to the half wit who at Junction 18a on the M5 Motorway Northbound [Northwest of Bristol] was in the left hand lane to leave the M5 to join the M49 heading for the M4 as I drew level with him, both of us doing around 80mph [sorry officer I mean 70mph]. He decided he was in the wrong lane or perhaps that the M49 held no interest for him and without any warning or indication he swerved off the M49 slip road and rejoined the M5 right in front of me. Mrs F screamed and I sounded the car horn and flashed my lights as I at 80mph [sorry 70mph] took avoiding action to the right into the middle lane, which thankfully at that very moment was devoid of any other traffic. As I increased speed a little to overtake, but of course not at any time exceeding the prescribed speed limit, Mrs F lowered her window and shouted some friendly words of advice at the other driver that I am afraid modesty forbids me from repeating here.

I was saddened to read about the death of Mary Travers, though she had been suffering from Leukemia for some years, news of her death on the 16th of September still made me briefly stop and take stock. Perhaps for the benefit of some of the younger readers of this Blog I should explain that Mary Travers was one third of the folk group Peter Paul and Mary. Now there are those of you who may know that my musical tastes may be varied with a slight bias toward American Bluegrass and Blues and I play, just for fun and in my own fashion, the five string banjo, so folk singing I agree is not my main musical passion.

However it is not directly for the folk singing that I remember Mary Travers or Peter Yarrow and Noel 'Paul' Stookey but for what happened on August 28th August 1963 and the small but significant part Pater Paul and Mary played during the March on Washington at which Martin Luther King Jr delivered his [now] famous 'I Have a Dream' speech. The song 'If I had a Hammer' which they sung during this rally became the anthem for racial equality just as much as Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind' also sung during the rally did.

Mary Travers was an outstandingly beautiful woman as anyone can see if they take the time to surf the web for pictures of her during those times with her blond almost white hair bobbing about her face as she moved and sang; even now up until her death she still retained an air of beauty and dignity. Sadly another link with my youth has now disappeared forever.

Regular readers will remember in last month's entry of the Blog I mentioned briefly about the impending start of the NFL season and that the Denver Broncos had then played and lost two of their pre season friendly games and I thought perhaps that the oncoming season did not bode well. An update is that they also lost their third game but won the fourth, despair began to creep in I feared for the season ahead and wondered even after all these years perhaps I might select another team to support. Imagine then my delight and no doubt the delight of Bronco fans worldwide to discover that they have won both their opening games of the new season. Perhaps this may be a return to the glory days of the Broncos when they won the Super Bowl two years running, 1997 against the Green Bay Packers 31-24 and 1998 against Atlanta Falcons 34-19; but then again it might be the kiss of death for them with me now having declared in a celebratory manner their early success, we will have to wait and see.

Many readers I am sure will also remember in last month's Blog my brief mention of the Bus Pass rightfully earned at the young age of 60. Much enjoyment was had in using the pass whilst on holiday and I might add that I became somewhat complacent about its use. I would casually board the bus approach the driver and innocently wave my pass in his general direction whilst mumbling to him my intended destination prior to taking my seat. Once as an act of rebellious defiance, and just because I could, on one journey I stayed on the bus a further stop prior to alighting and walking back to my intended destination.

Mrs F being a child bride does yet qualify for a bus pass, and so we had to pay for her transportation. At one point whilst enjoying a liquid lunch at the Union Inn I suggested to her that she may wish to consider walking back to our apartment [a distance of some three miles] I had calculated the money saved from her bus fare would afford my another pint of beer and I would return later by bus, for free of course.

There followed a short sharp abusive tirade the like from Mrs F that I have only ever heard once since and that to a half wit motorist on the motorway when returning home a week later.