I was wondering if hobbledehoy was a peculiarly Norfolk word but it appears not. The dictionary definition is a clumsy or awkward youth but I don't think that's what my grandmother meant.
The dictionary goes on to give a long list of synonyms including the word lout and I'm sure that was the one my grandmother was referring to. But of course in those days back in the 1960s any male with long hair was looked upon as a lout.
There are many other quite funny words for hobbledehoy on the internet if you Google it. The word goes back to the 16th century and so was well entrenched in the English language. I was reminded of it by a passage in Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens which I am currently devouring. In that august tome it is used as a detrimental word.
So reading Dickens can definitely transport you back to childhood through his use of the English language.
I have to report that during my late teens and early twenties I did have long hair but I claim that I never became a hobbledehoy in any of its meanings although at times during my life I have felt awkward.
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I was almost moved to tears by the inspirational speech given by Joe Biden at his inauguration as the 46th president of the USA. I watched with rapt attention the coverage of the event on the BBC on Wednesday.
I have always had a great interest in America. I studied American history at A' level and have travelled around the States a considerable amount to many states including New York, New Jersey, Maryland, both Virginias, Pennsylvania, Massachusettes, Colorado, Utah, California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and many more.
For many years I was in love with the country through its scenery, its history, its culture and its music. But that love affair dissipated over the past four years, although we did enjoy a wonderful holiday on Cape Cod a couple of years ago thanks to our dear friends Michele and Michael.
I fell out of love when a certain uncouth person took on a certain post and you will know who and what I'm talking about. Suddenly I had little interest in travelling to the Land of the Brave and the Land of the Free.
Hatred and lies seemed to be the order of the day. Hopefully this will now stop and some kind of normality will again embrace a country that could and should be great. Ironically in the past when a new president has been sworn in I have always been cynical with words such as "they won't be able to do much. They have been elected on a wave of euphoria but it will soon all calm down and become ever so slightly boring." Now let's face it that's exactly what the USA needs - a period of calm and to be ever so slightly boring.
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I enjoyed my three mile Steward stroll round the village today. It's quite nice to be inside my own little bubble for an hour or so. There I was with hood up and headphones tightly in place. There was a rainbow to take pictures of (included with this blog) and nice to have another chat with Hannah and Eva Harrison. Eva is only four and she is walking a mile every day for charity whilst dressed as some of her favourite fairytale characters.
As I walked I listened to one of my many Spotify playlists. This one was entitled "Favourite Prog Tracks" and there was plenty of Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Van Der Graaf Generator, Kansas, Cream and much more. Music always stirs up emotions within me and one track made me yearn for the end of lockdown.
"Echoes" by Pink Floyd just reminds me of golden days of sun and warmth, getting together with friends and particularly of a walk we had a number of years ago from Cambridge along the banks of the River Cam to Grantchester and afternoon tea on the riverbank. How lovely it would be to do that again now. Pink Floyd of course came from Cambridge - hence even more nostalgia. One other track on the playlist (and this isn't really prog) was Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles. I know the words of that so well, but today they seemed so apt to our circumstances.
Father McKenzie
Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Taking the picture of the rainbow saw me singing "I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too."
And of course there's the 1960s song Rainbow by Marmalade which includes the words:
Now I'm changing
For the better, for the day
Feel like singing
All the colours you convey
And of course there's always "Over the Rainbow" or "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as it is more commonly called.
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Came home to find the usual flood of holiday brochures on the doorstep. We get tens of these every week. But really who is going to book holidays in the present climate where you just don't know whether they will go ahead or not? If they are cancelled you may have to wait a long time to get your money back.
Again it made me muse on winter holidays over the past few years. A week of glorious February sunshine in Northumberland with visits to Bamburgh Castle, Seahouses, Berwick and Holy Island (Lindisfarne) where the weather was so warm we didn't need a coat. And last year at the end of January we had a week in the Cotswolds blissfully unaware of what was about to happen in a couple of months time.
Also amongst the mail was notice of a half marathon or marathon hike in various beauty spots around the country for MacMillan Cancer Research. Our nearest hike is in the Dedham Vale area on the Suffolk/Essex border (an area better known as Constable Country after the celebrated artist and not the Police).
The idea is to walk or hike either 13 miles or 26. I have a problem with this kind of charity idea though. For a start you have to pay £20 which is basically another way of them getting donations. But the thing I find difficult to understand is you not only have to do that but you have to pledge to raise at least another £250 from sponsorship. That to me is putting pressure on the individual.
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Finally today my story on the grass cutting at Hethersett Parish Church is on the EDP24 website which you can see at:
Hethersett Parish Council to foot the bill for grass cutting | Eastern Daily Press (edp24.co.uk)