Varied stories today despite the seemingly restricted meaning of the word orbit, all quite interesting.
Sue dreamed of being a French lady of high standing awakening to reality in rain soaked Paddington Station. Joan Read told of a builders family and their house that needed repair. Rosemary debated the meaning of orbit and its possible connection to obit. Brian told of a husband and son retreating to the garden shed and making a Guy Fawkes. Pat told of her plans to count the butterflies in the garden.
Sally story was way out, a science fiction story where men were wimps. Joan E told of the disastrous ride on a roller coaster never to be repeated.
I related the trip to feed the hens and other events.
Ann was voted best with her description of the solar system as a slice of confection.
Orbit
I wondered how I came to be here, but I know exactly how I came to be here. There was a small group of us who always went about together. I'd always fancied Paul like crazy and when he asked me if I would like to go to a talk with him, I was so made up that he had chosen me that I readily agreed. It wasn't until later that I discovered it was a lecture about the solar system. So here we are sitting in the lecture hall waiting for it to begin. The speaker is introduced and the lights are dimmed. He starts of by saying that the Sun moves smoothly on its path around the Galaxy or Milky Way. My mind immediately turns to food. I'll have one of each please as I'm quite peckish. I should have thought to put in some sweets to suck.
bid I hear him mention Mercury? I understood that was the silver stuff in thermometers. I remember my mum taking my temperature and giving the thermometer a flick with her wrist to make sure the mercury had gone down before she stuck it under my tongue. Once I remember one being dropped and the long stick of silver turned into hundreds of tiny balls that slithered everywhere on the wooden floor. It seems that he's talking about Venus now. I know she's supposed to be the goddess of love, but she's not much to look at with no arms. I suppose she must have been a looker once, but she looks rather careworn now.
Oh no he's talking about food again. This time it's Mars. Now I really fancy one of those, but not those tiny fun size things. You just get the flavour and it's gone. Even the big ones are not as big as they used to be, but they are something you can get your teeth into and I can just taste that silky, sticky filling as it tries to escape your mouth. What was that he said about Jupiter and Galileo? Didn't Queen sing about Galileo? Yes, I think it was in Bohemian Rhapsody. That was a weird song, about killing a man, but it was very catchy and proved very popular. I loved the sound and flow of some of the words as your tongue twisted around them. " Galileo, Galileo" and "Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango". I liked it despite the contents. I'm suddenly aware that Paul is looking at me and turn towards him. He smiles and gives my hand a squeeze.
When I turn back I catch sight of the slide as Saturn comes into view. This is the one with the rings around the middle. However do they always manage to stay in place and not wobble off centre, as they don't appear to be attached to the planet at all? I settle back to try and understand what the speaker it talking about, but up pops Uranus and its satellites, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon and
Miranda. Gosh, what a lot to take in. I can't help but stifle a snigger, as
Uranus is the perfect answer when someone annoys you. As for the
satellites, I use Ariel to do my washing and it sounds as if the rest have
all stepped out of a Shakespeare play.
Now he's talking about Neptune. Well if my memory serves me right, he
is the King of the Sea. I can picture him sitting on a rock surrounded by
the sea with long strands of seaweed as hair and holding a toasting fork.
Well I suppose it would correctly be called a trident.
I didn't know that Disney featured in the solar system, but Pluto has just
been mentioned. He would be lolloping everywhere, bumping into things. I
wonder if Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy or any more of his friends are
around? It could be quite entertaining.
Here we go again. Starbursts. I don't need reminding that I'm hungry. I
hope we can go out for something to eat when this is over. Oh, I think it
must have finished as everyone is clapping. I'd better join in I suppose.
As the lights come up Paul turns to me and says, "That was great. Did you
enjoy it?
"Once I got into orbit, it was a voyage of discovery", I reply.
Next month "Young Elizabeth" at John's
