Thursday, September 06, 2007

The Shipping Forecast

It is a lovely late summer morning. The sun has not yet risen and I wish I hadn’t either.

It was hard to get out of bed. I lay there listening to Radio Four and pretending that the shipping forecast meant anything to me. The shipping forecast (a strange collection of place names – at least I assume they are place names – and weather conditions) drones on for bout fifteen minutes:

Cromarty Forth Tyne:
West or southwest 3 or 4. Slight or moderate. Mainly fair. Mainly good.

Dogger:
Northwesterly 3 or 4. Slight or moderate. Mainly fair. Mainly good.

Fisher:
Northwest 5 to 7. Rough. Mainly fair. Moderate or good.

…and so forth.

The reader reads the places and forecasts in a steady, plodding pace. (I can picture, as I lay there sailors in their ships listening to the radio and writing the forecast into a log book… or spies listening for secret messages – get out your decoder rings!)

The forecast ended and it suddenly occurred to me that I had almost been lulled into a slumber by the cadence. I jumped up and took a quick shower, shave and shooed the dog out to take care of her morning routine. (Sniff that bush… Hey look! A tree… What's this thing? Was it here yesterday?)

While waiting for her to do her thing, I made myself a bowl of cereal and came up to write my blog. The mornings are staying dark longer. It'll soon be time to "Fall Back" on the clocks but for now, I guess I'll have to use my lights to ride into the office.

Oh will, right now it is such a lovely morning.

Wherever you are, I hope that you’re having a lovely morning!

Don Bergquist – 06 September 2007 – Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

No comments: