Thursday I attended the monthly Friends Of Mission meeting. Our guest speaker was the head of Jireh House, a charity that helps mothers and children seeking shelter at times of crisis. Daunting to hear that they now have 16 properties across the river but regularly still have to turn away people seeking assistance.
Felt tired when I got home and sent my apologies to Cary Lenehan's latest book launch this evening. Might be just as well I did - when I finished watching Night of the Blood Beast on YouTube, I went to get out of my chair and had trouble standing up. I pushed myself onto my feet and clutched at the piece of furniture next to me. Missed it by an inch. I went backwards, bounced off my chair and fell forwards into a pile of clutter under the table. Adding insult to injury, my croquet mallet toppled over and lay across me.
I wish there was such a thing as a slow-motion replay in real life. I'd like to see how I managed to land on my right arm and my left shin in one go. I sighed a little, pushed myself onto my face and got up on my hands and knees. From there I got hold of my walking stick and shuffled over to the First Aid Kit.
Not a good night's sleep - the twitches from my barked shin kept waking me up regularly. Oh well, it could have been worse.
*
Last week's book was PATRICIA BRENT, SPINSTER by Herbert Jenkins (1918)
Jenkins was PG Wodehouse's publisher for many years, and some of the master's magic seems to have rubbed off on him. This tale of a secretary who invents an imaginary boyfriend starts off slowly but becomes more and more amusing as the plot piles complication upon complication. Sample - the aunt declares "Don't forget I am your only living relative", and Patricia thinks to herself "I wish you were neither."
Out of print for decades but available on-line. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33353
*
Sunday morning attendance was down a little at church. I wasn't surprised - that often happens in a long weekend;
however I was a little surprised when I stopped for lunch on the way home. The New Town Green Store had so many customers that I had to look around before I found a table free. Decided these must be the folks who had studied the weather forecast and decided not to go away for the long weekend. (It stopped raining for half an hour after sundown, giving me a chance to feed the animals without getting wet.)
*
Books - This week I re-read SLAN by A.E. van Vogt, one of the classics of 1940s science fiction. Its plot of an underground group of mutants avoiding persecution by the proudly "normal" maj0rity has inspired many stories since then. I was amazed at how much I'd forgotten since I last read it - of course that was about sixty years ago. I closed the book, aware of the impact it still held.
From my TBR pile, the next day I browsed through the unread titles and selected almost at random a 1951 novel by SF master Jack Williamson. After the first couple of chapters I had a strange feeling. The plot was taking an all too familiar line - a group of superhumans were fleeing a group of ruthless hunters of the unhuman. It was almost like I was reading a prequel to SLAN! I suppose I should have put it aside till next month and read something different but by then I was too deep in the story to abandon it. One for the Coincidence File I guess.
.jpeg)
