Maynard sent me this edited copy of one of my photos.
To blog you need words and today I have few. I was outdoors this afternoon cleaning the inside of my car. It was wonderful to be out there in the fresh air, able to clamber in and out and up and down. The sunshine warmed my heart and now I feel content for a job well done.
♣♥♦ ♣♥♦ ♣♥♦ ♣♥♦
I was going to post some other pictures that I took while out the other day, but they are in my cell phone, and when I add the USB connection it refuses to do what I want. 🙁 I suppose it might be a senior moment and I can’t remember quite what to do….
I do have a photo to show you
I am not talking about the empty shop across the way. I heard a dreadful statistic on the radio yesterday morning…. One in ten shops in the UK are closed for business!
I am talking about the sign on the door, one I hoped never to see again.
Coming in closer…
I am not asking for the vigilance to stop. I want to live in a world with no need for signs like that.
At times we need to forget the past and live today while building for tomorrow!
A pity the threat of incendiaries has returned, but better vigilance than some nasty injuries. When I was a bookseller I had to be vigilant in a different way – for shoplifters who were always trying to slip a paperback into their pocket while the staff weren’t looking.
Americans wouldn’t know what incendiaries are. We call them bombs. Scary.
I remember we were assigned radiation shelters in 1960. but weren’t bombed. We were afraid of anthrax. There’s the scares of bird & swine flu pandemics. Now they tell us to expect bio-warfare.
Yes, be vigilant, but try not to be frightened.
We have a ‘Be alert not alarmed’ campaign here. Basically to encourage people to look out for unattended bags or parcels and the provision of a 1800 number that nobody can remember. Frankly, it hasn’t really had much effect. It’s such a shame to see that sort of thing coming back into Irish life. The perpetrators were nothing more than a twinkle in their daddy’s eye when the Troubles were at their worst! Someone should remind them that this is no game and that there’s no room for a new IRA!
Nick – I thought we had all that behind us. The shop owner was on a vigilance training course only the day before.
Books are difficult to watch. I know somebody who worked for a security company and she would curl your hair with the storys of the brazenness of some people who were stealing to order. I was not one item at a time, but racks of clothing such as leather jackets.
BHB – Unfortunately we are all becoming aware of what incendiaries are. 🙁
Baino – We lived with that for years and DO NOT want to return to it. Our cities are being rebuilt, reborn and vibrant places for everyone to enjoy together. That is how most of us want them to stay.
Do you remember when there used to be announcements during programme breaks on television, “Would keyholders for such and such a street, please contact the police immediately”.
The strain on the shopkeepers must have been severe.
Ian – I do indeed. A neighbour of mine worked back then in building control in Belfast he was on call every second night. When a bomb went off he was called on to inspect the building for safety purposes. Nobody was allowed to enter the building until he gave the go ahead. Imagine how his wife felt all those evenings waiting for his safe return?
I’m afraid that we are going to reach a time when we have to have signs similar to that. I can’t imagine a time when we have to decide whether the restaurant or play, etc., that we want to attend is worth the risk of a suicide bomb, or worse.
Betty – I am sincerely hoping that you are wrong this time.
Grannymar, as you were writing this post, an incendiary device had gone off in a restaurant popular with Western tourists in the town where I live, not two kilometers as the crow flies from my home. At last count, nine were killed and forty nine injured some in very serious condition. While I and my family are safe, till I could speak to Ranjan who was out in the evening and frequents the area where the incident took place, I was on edge and my islamophobia took off into orbit where it remains as I write this. Both Ranjan and I have friends living close by to the restaurant and though so far we have not heard of any of them being affected, we may well do so. Would you still say “At times we need to forget the past and live today while building for tomorrow!”?
Ramana, my post was written late yesterday and I had no idea when I was writing of the atrocities about to hit your neighbourhood. My final statement was really for the perpetrators of such horrendous acts.
When I heard the news, I relived the gut wrenching feelings from years past when Jack was out travelling the roads of Ulster, there were days when I would not know exactly which direction he would take as appointments sometimes changed at short notice. We had no mobile phones back then so I had to live with the worry until the car came round the corner. It was EVERY day, so I learned to keep the radio and TV switched off while he was working.
and a “terrific” blogger you are!
Maynard – Are biased by any chance? 😆
Great post. Very appropriate.
Gaselikaa – There are days when my fingers do both the thinking and the typing, this was one!