My son has been here for a few days as we thought that it was going to snow - as that is what the weather forecast said - but it has been foggy and dank as usual. But NOW the forecast is snow just when he really has to go back. I do not want to be snowed up here on my own. There is no fun in making weird meals from things scraped off the back of the fridge and throwing snowballs and photographing ice hanging off twigs by yourself. Bugger - as all English people say, apparently.

Oddly, I seem to have no telepathic communication with my children whatsoever. Although I have had many strange incidents with other people. For example, my daughter was going to Amsterdam for the first time, so I decided to ring a very old Dutch friend to ask if she could be prepared to help if anything disastrous happened to her. I hadn't actually been in contact with this friend for ten years and had NEVER ever rung her. She picked up the phone and gasped. When it rang she had been crossing the room towards it to ring ME (for the first time ever) to say that her daughter was visiting London and could I help if anything disastrous happened to her.

Anyway, every time one of my children has been in any serious trouble or has had an accident I have been pottering about, humming, without a care in the world. Last week one of the main news stories was of a British tourist being shot in India. I read this carefully and, phew, it was nowhere near the place where my older daughter was staying. The next day my son said that she had rung because there were no e-mail faciities and she was just checking in. Okay, fine, I potter off still humming. She rings yesterday because she has just had her passport stolen and , Oh yes, she hadn't wanted to 'worry' me but things had been a bit tense because an acquaintance of theirs, staying in the same hotel, had been shot last week. 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN? You are not in that part of India.' 'Didn't I say? We decided to travel on and visit somewhere different.' ' Arrrrrgh!' 'Well I rang last week especially so you knew I was all right'. 'But I didn't know there was anything for you NOT to be all right about'. 'Yes, because I didn't want to worry you'............ Not only was this man staying in the same, and only, hotel in this tiny village but my daughter was sitting lonelyely in some wood by the river at exactly the same time that he was being shot in this same wood. She and her boyfriend then had drinks with the man's travelling companion while he discussed the surprising lateness of the man's return and then had to console him after he had gone out and made a horrible discovery. Also had to watch the police savagely beating up two non-local Indians who had been picked on as the murderers. Though , she thought, rather obviously not. By the time she finally rang she had moved to the next city and immediately had her bag containing all credit cards, money, passport etc. stolen. She appeared totally calm and infused with an annoying Eastern fatalism. I wish I could say the same about myself.
- posted by Iris @ 1/22/2004 12:54:00 PM comment