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BB1202
: The Wearies and a BOOTbaby
Thursday
12th January 2012
Are
you "weary"?
I
always thought it meant something like physically or
mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, etc.
or impatient or dissatisfied with something
Now
it seems there is a new definition. You remember "Yuppy"? For the benefit of
any reader who is too young to recognise the term, it
is a partial acronym for Young Upwardly-mobile
Professionals. Or should it be "Yuppie"? Young
Upwardly-mobile Professional Person In Employment? It
seems more appropriate.
Anyway,
the font of all wisdom, the Daily
Telegraph, explains that many
of those of who once were a "Yuppy / ie." are now a
"Weary".
You
might think this a derogatory term standing for something
like a Worn-out, Exhausted And Redundant Yorkshiremen. Surprisingly,
perhaps, this is not the case.
According
to the DT (so it must be right) a "Weary"
is a Working, Entrepreneurial and Active Retiree. It
goes on to clarify that "working" does not
necessarily mean being in paid employment but one who
does things rather than sitting around in a sun-lounger
all day. What it fails to clarify is what has
happened to the "Y" that it does not accronynimise (how's
that for new word?).
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The
definition seemed to be appropriate for our assembled
group of Wearies which included a new initiate John H.
Stuart
had hoped to be Weary but explained he was Poorly instead.
I don't know what that stands for.
Pi##ed
Off, Old, Remembering Lost Youth perhaps?
Although
the forecast was for a decent day, if rather cold, after
all this rain would it be slippery under foot?
Or
might it be freezing?
Either
way would it be better
with poles or without?
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John
H
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I remember Philip (who
was with us today) slipping, falling on his poles and
breaking his ribs (although he didn't know it at the
time; BB0623).
I
also remember Bryan (who was with us today) slipping when
he wasn't using poles and breaking his ribs (although
he didn't know it at the time; BB0806). On the other hand, he was
racing two teenage lads downhill so perhaps that
is not a good comparator.
Most
of us
decided not to bother with poles. On the
other hand Philip and John did.
As
we drove to Troutbeck the weather just got better and
better.
Our
objective was, at Mike's request, High Street (last visited in quite an
epic expedition in 2008 on BB0824)
so, as is his practice, he fired us up with Linthwaite
sausages before we set off up the old Roman Road.
The
Roman Road
As
we made our gladitorial way along, I couldn't
help but think of the old Battle Song made famous by
John S. What a pity he couldn't be with us to
lead the singing:
I'm
in the bodyguard of Julius Ceasar; he's got a fizzer
like a lemon squeezer
A gladiator bold and furious;
all
dressed up in a garb so curious.
Ever seen a Fellow like a Roman candle;
a man who
never let his braces dangle
My name's Marcus, tiddly
old carcus; permanent
address of Rome
I'm glad glad very very glad,
I'm glad I'm a gladiator
Ancient
Rome, that's my home, fried fish shop by the Hippodrome
I'm glad glad very very glad,
from my helmet to
my toes
My old Dad was a Roman glad, and he left
me his Roman nose
Et
cetera!
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Looking
down the Roman Road
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Comitibus: The
Wearies.
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Froswick
and Ill Bell or a recumbent lady?
Kentmere
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We
climbed the increasingly steep track up
the side of Froswick where the plan was
to bear right for High Street.
Philip,
however, had other ideas and, somewhat reminiscent
of his skiing tendency, shot off in a different
direction to Thornthwaite Beacon.
Stan
and John followed to rescue him whilst the
rest of us took the intended track, passing
a stag and his harem, to the High Street
summit where we regrouped for lunch.
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The
Stag.
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The
Harem
Comitibus:
Lunch
Although
it was rather cold, it was a beautiful day with excellent
visibility in all directions.
Looking
north west to Brother's Water
Panorama
from the Crinkles to Blencathra
A
debate ensued as to whether to return along Froswick,
Ill Bell and Yoke or, as planned, to head south west
to Thornthwaite Beacon (despite the fact that Philip
had already been there).
Beginning
the descent from High Street
Thornthwaite
Beacon
The
Beacon got the vote and, once past, we dropped down
the steep slope to Threshthwaite Mouth and then descended
the valley alongside the Trout Beck.
Looking
down Trout Beck from Threshthwaite Mouth
The
sun dropped behind the hills so we kept up a good pace
and some prodigious leaps across swollen backs on the
longish trek back. The old clapperstone bridge
was rather easier!
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A
big leap
Queens'
Head, Troutbeck
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Clapperstone
bridge
Health
& happiness to the BOOTbaby
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On
reaching Troutbeck, we took a break at the Queen's
Head where we celebrated my good news with
a bevy of Dizzy Blondes.
Yesterday
Danae (the partner of my son and occasional
BOOTboy,
Jamie) gave birth to their first child,
a boy, weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz and code
named
JJ for the time being.
Mother, baby
and father all doing well, thank you.
It
was our BOOTboy
duty
(not exactly a painful one), to
raise our glasses to the future of the new
BOOTbaby.
Or
should that be BOOTEEboy?
Not yet, perhaps.
Then
we recharged the glasses and toasted the
health of:
μούμια
και μπαμπάς (i.e.
his momma and poppa).
[Not exactly! See BB1203.
Ed.]
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BOOTboy
& BOOTbaby
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I
look forward to the day when I can take
my grandchildren out on to the fells. However,
as one lives in Munich (Luca) and the other
in Heraklion (JJ) it might be a while
yet!
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BOOTboy
in the dark
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The
three quarters of a mile back to the cars
gave rise to another BOOTboy
innovation.
For
the first time that I can remember, we finished
our outing in the dark and so, again for
the first time, I used my head torch to
ward off approaching cars.
At
the end, were there any broken ribs?
Thankfully,
no.
Were
we weary?
I certainly was.
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But
were we WEARY or, perhaps a better question, were we
WEARIES?
To
answer that we need to resolve the mystery of the letters
following R.
For
WEARY, I suggest the obvious Y for "Yuppie":
Working,
Entrepreneurial And Retired Yuppie
For
WEARIES, as far as we are concerned, the answer
must be
Working, Entrepreneurial and Active Retirees In Exceptional
Surroundings
In
which case the answer is Yes!
BOOTboys
are proud to be Wearies!
And
I am proud now to have two future BOOTboys in the family!
Don,
Thursday 12th January 2012
PS
On hearing the good news, John S sent this piece of
graffiti:
PPS
Here is an alternative impression of our outing:
To
Thine Own Self Be True
With
regard to my quotation in BB1201 "as surely as night follows
day",
Philip sent me an e-mail "Just for clarification":
See To
Thine Own Self Be True.
Mighty
Ruler of the World
That
well known Irishman Seán Mór has
written seeking to clarify matters in the great BB1139
Dreek debate. To find out more, see Mighty
Ruler Of The World.
Here`s
tae us. Wha`s like us
It
grieves me to have to admit this but Henry McC rightly
took me to task for not quoting in BB1139
the entirety of his argument regarding Dreich. I
have apologised and assured him that it was an oversight
and not deliberate. The text has now been amended.
His
complaint ran:
I
was disappointed that you omitted to include the first
two paragraphs of my email in Bootboys. The second paragraph,
quoting a number of Scots language publications, clearly,
accurately and unequivocally confirmed that the definitive
adjective to describe the Scottish weather is "dreich".
You
are committed to the necessity for accuracy of detail.
I would therefore like to express my admiration for
your remarkable flexibility in interpreting questionable
or contrary hard factual evidence to make it suit your
purpose.
My
final, final, comment on the subject is I remain amused
that an Englishman should be attempting to tell a Scotsman
what the Scots say. However with reference to the present
political news, it does seem to be the in vogue thing
to do!!!!
Slainthe
Henry.
PS.
To further enhance your knowledge of the Scots language
I undernote a toast which can be used on any occasion.
"
Here`s tae us. Wha`s like us- Damn few an` they`re a`
deid".
My
last word on the great debaate is that Henry conveniently
ignores the fact that I was simply reflecting back what
I am informed that non-Glaswegian Scots say.
Regarding
the discussion on devolution, it is perhaps pertinent
to remember that the purpose behind the creation of
the Union was to bale out a bankrupt Scotland. Many
English think that the if devolution were to happen,
there is a benefit in that the subsidy from south to
the north of Britain would cease and be replaced by
a subsidy from Brussels. If the Europeans let the Scots
into the Euro, that is. I close this thread with
a question. If devolution does occur, how many
self-exiled Scots would rush to return to their homeland.
Henry? I thought not!
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With
regard to his toast (as per above), that
I recognise.
What
Henry would not know is that some years
ago I compiled and John S (aka Seán Mór)
illustrated a compendium of pre-dinner "Amazing
Graces".
This
was designed so that anyone attending a
formal dinner fearful of being called upon
to say grace could sublty extract a small
book from his pocket and choose from a wide
range of religious, secular or humorous
graces to impress and entertain the assembled
diners, rather than boor them with the usual:
"For
what we are about to receive ....."
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In
the course of the research, I came across quite a few
Scottish toasts, including that which Henry mentions.
Here is another Scots toast that I rather like:
I
drink to the health of another,
And the other I
drink to is he -
In the hope that he drinks to another,
And the other he drinks to is me!
I
hereby drink to the health of all BOOTboys
readers!
Including Henry!!
STATISTICS:
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BB1202
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Thursday
12th January 2012
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| Distance
in miles:
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12.7
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| Height
climbed in feet:
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2,850
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| Wainwrights:
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High
Street, Thornthwaite Beacon-
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| Other
Features:
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Troutbeck
Valley
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| Comitibus:
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Bryan, Don, James, John H,
Mike,
Philip, Stan,
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BOOTboys
routes ares now put online in gpx format which
should work with most mapping software. You can follow
our route in detail by downloading BB1202.
To
see which Wainwright top (excluding Outlying Fells)
was visited on which BB outing
see Which
Wainwright When?
For the latest totals of the mileages and heights see: BB Log.
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