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BB2013
: The Last Day of Summer?
Tuesday
28th April 2020
Hasn't
April
weather been remarkable? The ground
is so dry. Margaret reckons she has
not seen it as crusty since the last great
lockdown- the Foot and Mouth one when Cumbria
was closed and all the footpaths were overgrown.
But a change is about to come. This
was likely to be the last decent day before
the rain arrives, probably until the end
of summer or at least to St Swithin's day.
Things
got off to a bad start for me. I have
to take a pill thirty minutes before I have
my old man's Clopidog blood thinning pill so that
the latter doesn't upset my stomach. Fifteen
minutes after taking the former I realised that
I had ingested the wrong one. I had
taken the statin that I am supposed to have
last thing at night. How would this
affect my performance? I suppose if
it had been Viagra you might call it performance
enhancing! But I think that Simvastatin
is a night time pill because it induceszzzzzzzzzzzs. How would this affect my role
in the day's proceedings? Fortunately
I had a late start so, if needed, there
was time for a snooze
before being woken for the one minute C19 silence.
Stan
set off at 10. At least that is what
I was hoping. However I didn't hear
from him, nor Bryan, nor Stuart so I wasn't
too taken aback when Margaret said "Are
you sure you have got the right day?"
I was beginning to wonder. Then
at 11:20 Stan's message, with photos, came
through. He and Joan had handed over to Bryan
a few minutes ahead of schedule. Would
this pace be maintained and did the others
need to be alerted to bring forward their
handover times? I thought the key
point was when Bryan arrived at the Dirty
Dog having cycled over the Scar. We
would know better when we knew that. I'll
set off early for my handover just in case.
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The
confirmation arrived at 11:28. Martin had taken
over from Stuart.
Two minutes early. Better get
myself ready if they are ahead.
Left home ten minutes earlier
than planned and, whether it was the effect
of the drug or not, I shot along the old
canal path at Jack Reacher speed, almost but not quite keeping
up with some doggy-joggers.
The bluebells
in the wood were spectacular.
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Joan
and Stan
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Bryan
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Stuart
& Martin
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I
stopped from time to time as messages were
now coming through thick and fast. Bryan,
who had travelled by bike, reported that
he had decided to go via Scout Scar to meet
Stuart at the Mucky Pup (OK Black Labrador)
then return via Brigsteer for a change of
scenery. Whilst still in Kendal, he
had been pulled up by a police van. He
didn't think he was doing anything wrong.
Fortunately he was not under suspicion
but, as he says, in these strange times
you can never be sure. It turned out
that there had been a report of someone
riding recklessly with a child on the bike.
The policeman wanted to know if Bryan
had seen them. He hadn't.
Bryan
managed to get round inside the hour. He
was particularly pleased with posting a
personal best on the Helsington Church climb.
I remember it well from the days that
I used to cycle to get fit for skiing. I
was proud of the fact I could just manage
to cycle up without having to get off. I
don't think I could even push the bike up
these days. Respect to Bryan.
I
reached the Sedgwick junction with time
to spare to meet John PL though he too arrived
early. Seemingly Mike B, after taking
over from Stuart, had stormed along the
A590 on his electric bike. John on
the other hand has had three knees replaced
and doesn't travel as far and as fast as
he once did. Well, much more than
once, actually.
My
task was to climb up to cross the railway
bridge and then across the Maize Maze. Planted under
white protective covers but I doubt that
it will be very amazing this year unless
there is a rapid change of lockdown rules.
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There
was a good panorama of the Lake District
and Helm.....
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.....though
some bullocks tried to stop me reaching
John Hn.
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They
failed. I asked them politely
to fade away and they did so
I was able to meet John Hn at
the A65. As this event
included the west side of Kendal
he felt justified in travelling
the few miles from Killington
to join in. This was good
as it is some time since we
have actually clapped eyes on
him other than in the ZOOMbar.
John
had to climb Helm to join Mike
T at the summit. They
met just as I reached home and,
as the cairn is visible from
our garden, I was able to see
the pair of them standing there,
suitably socially distanced,
waving to me.
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Mike
took a video of the view from the summit.
To enjoy the view, click on Helm.
He now had to race down into Kendal
to meet Tony at Natland Mill Beck Lane,
better known as the Asda roundabout. Last
we had heard of Tony was in the WhatsApp
picture he had sent of him lounging with
his feet up. Would he actually have
stirred? Of course he had. He
dutifully met Mike then set off to return
the virtual baton to Stan to complete the
round.
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Don
& John Hn
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John
& Mike T
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ynoT
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Later
on, most of us met in the ZOOMbar
to reflect on the day. Another successful
relay and guess what? Not long after
completion it had started to rain. Was
this the last day of summer?
Don,
Tuesday 28th April 2020
The
Zulu Warriors
Down
in the ZOOMbar:
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Martin
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Don
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Mike
B
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Stuart
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Tony
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Mike
T
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Stan
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John
PL
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John
Hn
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If
you were wondering about the origins of
last week's ZOOMbar
song, it is claimed that in 1946 Gilbert
Fox, a WWII Army Air Corps Bombardier, brought
back to Ohio’s Bowling Green State University
his interpretation of a Zulu war chant.
It became the unofficial fight song traditionally
sung after every Bowling Green Falcon Football
victory. American Football of course.
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Click on the picture above to see
the old boys in action.
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However,
also in 1946, a song called The Zulu Warrior
by Josef Marais and his Bushveld Band was
recorded on the Decca label. Words
and lyrics were credited to Marais, a South
African, born in 1905. He recorded
songs in Afrikaans then was asked by the
BBC to translate them for British audiences.
In 1939 he moved to New York and for
the next 30 years he and his partner Rosa
de Miranda recorded many South African traditional
folk ballads plus, according to Wikipaedia,
"original songs such as Zulu
Warrior."
I
remembered it as a rugby song
so I asked Robin for confirmation.
He replied:
Rugby
legend is that it was first
sung at the Hong Kong Rugby
Sevens celebration dinner where
every nation’s team would, and
still do (well, not this year),
entertain in turn with ribaldry
and/or humour. This was either
the Singaporean or Thai contribution
when I was in HK, but I never
knew its history until now and
having read the web page you
sent, I can see how it came
about.
Haul
‘em down you Zulu warrior!
Haul
‘em down, you Zulu chief!
(all
chant) Chief! Chief! Chief!
Chief!
Aye zigga zumba, zumba,
zumba,
Aye zigga zumba, zumba
ay! (repeat last two lines)
In
my rugby days it was one of
the numerous songs we sometimes
sang after the match. I don’t
think it happens so much now.
It was usually sung to some
poor fellow who had lost in
a drinking competition or for
gloating or something like that.
Although taking your ‘keks’
down was not obligatory, many
‘obliged’. I’m pleased to say
I never had to perform, or at
least, don’t recall ever having
done so, but I may have sung
along with the lads on occasion….!!!
Ah, when we were young – good
memories of fun times.
Robin's
version is much closer to my
recollection of the song than
that of the Ohio Bowling Green.
The rhythmic structure has been slightly
modified for the end of my BOOT
boys
version (right).
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We're
in the ZOOMbar,
BOOTboys' ZOOMbar
We're in
the ZOOMbar, BOOTboys-ay!
We're in the
ZOOMbar,
BOOTboys' ZOOMbar
We're in the ZOOMbar,
BOOTboys-ay!
Down
in one,
you BOOTboy warrior
Down in one,
you BOOTboy chief
Chief, chief, chief
BOOTboys! ZOOMbar!
ZOOMbar!
BOOTboys!
Life is tough
but so are we.
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