Richard's Ramblings

Y ou know those schoolboy/girl bible riddles, “Who was the first hoon in the bible?” “Jehu, he drove furiously” (referencing 2 Kings 9:20). Or “When was the first cricket match in the bible?” “Acts 2 14, Peter lifted up his voice with the Eleven and was bold”. Acts 2:14 doesn’t say quite that, but why let facts stand in the way of a good (bad) schoolyard joke? The best (worst) of these riddles use archaic King James. And “When is the first locomotive in the bible?” “Isaiah 6, His train filled the temple”. That last came to mind when Leisa told me what she has planned for my birthday. For my 64 th , to demonstrate that she wasn’t limited to the Beatles feeding and needing, she bought a model train set. And this year, for my mumble mumble th , she’s ordered a table to go in the ballroom (have to keep Hugo away from it when Yoof nights restart) so that the now-extended train set can be reassembled.   I love that opening line of Isaiah 6. I only have to read, or hear, or think of “In the y

I had a haircut on Wednesday. You’ll see its aftermath on Sunday morning – some of you, earlier – in the will of the Lord and if the creek don’t rise. Aces and Eights in Tavern Street did the deed, along the road from Gene and Eleanor’s house, and temptingly opposite Dan Murphy (to which temptation I didn’t yield on Wednesday, by the prevenient grace of God). An attraction of the salon (bit posh to call it that, it’s a traditional men’s barber shop) is the resident Staffie, who sniffingly inspects every customer as they walk in. Favoured clients get a lingering Staffie lick. I used to attempt to disguise a receding hairline by brushing forward what was left. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity, said the preacher’s wife. So off I took myself to Aces and Eights. One look at the increasingly ineffective brushover was enough to elicit from barber Alex, “Mate, yer need a buzzcut”. Later that evening, I told Leisa that I was really tired. She said, it’s probably the haircut, now you know how Samso