Hitch hiking and various other pastimes #1

Monday 19th March 2012

Got up early after my last night of comfort and security at home. Said goodbye to my parents and took my mums homemade bag, which will hopefully come in handy at some point.
Took a steady walk up to Woolley Edge services, passing primary school children and their fussy parents. An elderly man who was making the most of the deceptively cold days sunshine by cleaning his car-boot wished me well and I felt uplifted and positive about the journey I was starting.

After scoping out various spots and asking some truck-drivers, I stood right at the very bottom close to the motorway on-ramp. On the back of a nearby lamp-post I saw previous hitchers who had left their mark with various dates, names and symbols. It was at this point that Dave stopped for me, in a small white van and said he could take me to Derby, which I gladly accepted, having spent 2 or so hours at that place. Dave was a project manager for some form of sewage operation, but was retiring in May, after which he had a cruise to San Francisco and Alaska booked. He was a nice chap and well travelled. Was told that the 'Dover' sign nearly put him off. Luckily not.

Dave dropped me just outside of Derby, at what I think were called Trowell services and having said what he did, I was going to change my sign to London, but before I even had the chance to salvage some more cardboard, a small grey corsa had stopped opposite me. Once inside the small vehicle, I'd like to say I got talking to Alison (or Alexandra in Spanish apparently) from Little Hampton (between Brighton and Plymouth) but I think I hardly muttered a word. The quirky revenue and customs lady talked non-stop about ex-boyfriends, travels, formula 1 racing and other topics until we reached Toddington services, just before the M25.

It was lovely weather still, although slightly and I was enjoying my first taste of proper solo travels. I had been trying 3 different points at the services but to no avail. Enquiring throughout the truck-stop also proved fruitless. After an hour, possibly slightly longer, a polite young chap picked me up. His names escapes me...Mark or Paul. He said he had picked me up after seeing me stood there for a while. He was, like Alison, going home after seeing his mother over the weekend. He told me he was a contractor for security at various events, gigs etc. and was a knowledgeable guy with some good views. He had travelled through Europe in a camper van and had camped at service stations in France without a problem, which is promising. After some confusion with directions, maps and sat-navs, he realised he was headed the wrong way and dropped me off at the first services, those being the South Mimms services.

Having spent a good three hours there, I had met some students from Hong-Kong studying at Warwick University, doing a charity hitch-hike to Croatia, a true hobo who was as polite as you like, he went to sleep round the back of the services with his dog. I didn't know his name yet but his demeanour was quite amazing, I was very happy to have met a true roads-person. I decided to try seek him out later, see what stories he had and if he was willing to share them. I gave in to hunger after nibbling chocolaty things all day, and, this being a motorway services, had to settle for overpriced fast-food. However there was another surprise in store, albeit minor. The friendly Eastern European lady at KFC (where I have vowed never to eat again after an encounter with an eye-opening book) gave me free chips with my burger and departed to the greasy backroom after telling me that good people get good things. I thanked her and devoured the small greasy package, while noting how strange it is to see 3 uniformed police officers eating chicken and playing on their iPhones. Peculiar indeed.

The Rhubarb Triangle

Not quite like the Bermuda triangle, not as glamorous, not as mysterious. But closer to home.

Infact, Wakefield's claim to fame, alongside sculpture, is indeed the lowly Rhubarb.

As I pondered this fact the other day, driving past the subtle Rhubarb sculpture on the edge of Thornes Park. You know how they say dogs look like their owners, or visa versa, depending on how you look at it, could it be that the inhabitants of a certain place represent the main association.

Now, I'm most probably just drawing similarities for the sake of it, but it could prove interesting nonetheless. Maybe it will work for your hometown.

Rhubarb is a peculiar plant, a vegetable to most, although there has been some debate around that fact in the U.S (who'd have guessed). The leaves are inedible and although the stem can be eaten raw it is usually cooked. Does this show that there are parts of Wakefield and the surrounding area that you have to discard in order to enjoy it at its fullest? Or do you have to include everything? Council estates, 'fag packet flats' and all. If you cook it down till you are left with the basics, do you get something sweeter and more enjoyable.

Is this small northern city comparable to its vegetable in terms of mundanity? Rhubarb is nothing special, at least not by its self, is Wakefield the same? Is it stupid to draw upon similarities between locations and crimson-stalked vegetables. Probably...Definately.

Why we're all doomed...or...how badgers and their torturers teach us valuable lessons.

Big claim really isn't it...that we're all doomed..
I think a lot of people would like to imagine that the human population will go on for many many happy years, with their childrens children having just a joyous life as they once did. Ok maybe not joyous, maybe pleasant, ok maybe not too pleasant but bearable.
How does this have anything to do with badgers..well, this article form the Guardian newspaper 'Barbaric' gang jailed for badger baiting
which I read the other day, made me think about the relations between animals, yes, believe it or not, humans are actually animals too.
There are a lot of branches of different arguments that stem from these relationships between animals, predatory, evolutionary, etc. However it seems to me that no other animal on earth commits such acts of 'barbarity' as frequently or as widespread as humans do. Yes, cats drag in half dead mice and seem to 'play' cruelly with them, but to deliberately slice open the carcass of a defenseless animal and hurl its offspring around a meadow is quite a different matter altogether.
Upon reading of this article, you may think this reaction is a bit over the top, in fact I heard somebody state that 'badgers are vicious bastards anyway', now I don't know too much about badgers, or badger baiting for that matter. But that argument doesn't hold any truth when the people commiting these acts of heartless-ness breed dogs specifically for their 'vicious' temperaments, apparently cross-breeding for the speed of the lurcher and the 'aggression' of a pit bull.
And what does this have to with the human race...well, I'd assume that after reading that article you recoil slightly and think that luckily its just a minority committing these acts of atrocity. But thats exactly why it will be the downfall or humans, because there are people who do this sort of stuff, and I'd take a guess that there will be people doing acts such as this or similar until they can act no more.