Mad security

This is a tale of mad security or security gone mad or the ultimate avoidance of risk. The Eskimo (Inuit) peoples of the Arctic used to hunt seals through the ice. They waited at a "blowhole" and harpooned the seal when it came to the hole to breathe. The harpoon , and all the attachments, were made of bone.

I acquired a harpoon with all the attachments some forty years ago, (how this came about is another story), and now wished to donate it to the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada. They were delighted to receive this artifact and I carefully boxed it and arranged to send it to Canada via a reputable carrier.

I declared the item as an historical artifact that was being returned to its country of origin. Imagine when to my surprise (chagrin) none of the carriers would take the parcel because it was a dangerous weapon, that is a harpoon!

One carrier was persuaded to transport the item but it has not yet arrived at its destination and has still got to surmount the customs and excise barrier on both sides of the Atlantic ... Watch this space!

Walter V.

An epic journey

Having written a post a few weeks ago in praise of the documentary, The Frankincense Trail, and having seen two of the episodes, I turned on the television ready for the last one.

It was just as enjoyable as before and Kate as charming and tactful as she always is. When the end of her journey drew nigh and the midnight mass was about to start, the excitement in the church could almost be felt.

The Patriarch arrived with much pomp in magnificent splendour and proceeded to put the incense, that Kate had carried for so many miles with her, into the thurible and then started the Mass in earnest having blessed the altar.

How pleased Kate must have been to feel that her journey had such a successful ending.

And now, I at least know where frankincense comes from!

Polly

Antidote to gloom

I seem to be surrounded by GLOOM. Gloom is everywhere, global gloom, then there is autumnal gloom and something called SAD which comes with Christmas. So, I say, lighten up a bit, take precautionary measures to counteract gloom. I recommend any activity, provided it is done badly, strive for incompetence and above all read nonsense verse thus:

There was an old person whose habits
Induced him to feed upon rabbits;
When he'd eaten eighten,
He turned amazingly green,
And thus he relinquished those habits.

For copyright reasons the above has been cribbed from A book of nonsense (Everyman's Library) Walter V