This morning I awoke to the sound of a light patter on the window. Rain? Having lived in California for 50 years, I wasn’t sure if I could identify it. Sure enough! I took some pictures, found a puddle that I could step into, and tasted the raindrops as they rolled into my mouth. Ah the sublime experiences of retirement in a foreign land! Sure enough, we were in London.
It drizzled all day as we sorted out one travelling problem after another. Last night, in the midst of an AirBnB conundrum, we were sitting near the entrance of the Emirates Arsenal Stadium and a security guard came up and helped us. He came back twice more and helped us with our bags and found the concierge for our building.
After talking with him for an hour that I discovered he had a clipped British accent. Up until that time I thought he had an American accent, which probably goes a long way to explain why learning French has moved from being a short-term project to a lifetime challenge.
I am beginning to think that I don’t pay attention well enough to the spoken language. I think I am interpreting body language and using other non verbal clues . . then adding in my mind what I think they are saying. And, others do it too. Could it be that we don’t use language at all? That all we do is watch the other person and then decide what they are saying based on the body language and the occasional word that is thrown in?
Trump blah blah blah idiot blah blah blah racist blah blah blah hypocrite . .
So, this could mean
Trump is an idiot, a racist, and a hypocrite — or –
Trump is not an idiot, but a racist or a hypocrite — or –
Trump who is an idiot, has the racist tendancies of a hypocrite
Ad infinitum . . . .
It calls into question almost all of my comprehension and perhaps validates what people have been saying about me for years. Well, I am going to leave that right there.