Blogs from Saint Helena, Atlantic, Oceans and Seas - page 3

Top 3 Top Story Now, from the news of the week on St Helena what is it that would be most engrossing to the international readership of this blog? Clearly, news of the disappearing cat will be of interest to you animal lovers out there. On Tuesday, during a particularly blustery and wet evening a feline shadow, with markings very similar to those of Wahoo, paced past the window, and then was gone into the darkness of the night. I waited for the familiar shrill cry, but nothing. I waited for his return – there was none. Not only did the wretched cat not return, he didn’t so much as glance into the window seeking out his erstwhile friend (perhaps, I’m over-stating that) or even some kind of recognition that this had been his temporary home. ... read more

The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat Those of you with a literary bent with a particular knowledge of mid-20th century children’s fiction will have noticed that I have nicked the title of this blog entry from the title of one of Enid Blyton’s Five Find-Outers series of stories. Sometimes I feel that I’m in the middle of someone else’s story with me cast as a bit of flotsam in a tale of torment. Let me start at the beginning. Several weeks ago I admired Owen’s cat that was preening itself in the sun – handsome animal. Owen’s response was something like ‘You can have him if you like’ as Wahoo (the cat’s name) was the last of an enormous number of feline waifs, strays and kittens acquired over the previous year. No, the rest hadn’t been ... read more

True or False 1. The death of Napoleon I seem to remember that, in my youth, there was a television programme (yes, such things did exist in my youth – although on a black and white screen that would sporadically disappear upwards on a never ending cycle) that had as its tag line the following ‘the following story is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent’. Well, the tag line of this blog entry might have been ‘the following is true, only the facts have been changed ….’ So, some strange and unusual things about St Helena – you will have to decide which are true. Some have claimed that the term ‘bogeyman’ derives from the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. Although this charming little ditty seems to suggest that parents weren’t unhappy ... read more

As Frank might have said Or as my new friend Peter (isn’t it wonderful to be surprised even now that it is possible to think that, ‘I have a new friend’) might have put it ‘I’m working at living in the moment’. Pretty well taking all we can from the then and now, the pleasure of the sublime, the ordinariness of every day life. But being aware of these everyday things and heeding them, even if not taking pleasure. Some of you will know that my literary hero is Frank Bascombe who is the narrator in Richard Ford’s wonderful trilogy of novels ‘The Sportswriter’, ‘Independence Day’ and ‘The Lay of the Land’, which I assume will be as satisfying as the previous two as I have read only the first 10 humorous and wise pages. In ... read more

Friday April 13th A fine night on the harbour front! It’s no surprise that so many people congregate at Donny’s Bar late afternoon on a Friday. No English ale I’m afraid – Iain, perhaps we should open our micro-brewery here! – but G&Ts or a beer whilst the sun sinks into the Atlantic is a spectacular way to end the working week. Grilled Yahoo (fish) and chips is good to – but a serious absence of mushy peas. Twilight is very brief here as the sun drops very quickly and sinks out of sight (I know it doesn’t really) after a very brief explosion of colour over the sea. Is that because St. Helena is so close to the equator – I have a sense that we are travelling much quicker here than we would further ... read more