Gold Digger

Camping Lullaby - pencil drawing by Nigel A  JAMES

A Trifle of Tattle

Summer is the sum of the stories that come back, and, just the other day, a good friend of mine shared the following one or two thoughts with me, and, they were all about camping!

Camping had always been one of his passions, but sadly, a holiday under canvas was something that his wife had always dismissed as being out of the question. A comfortable room with a view was the only thing that she was prepared to consider, that was, until now.

This summer, after years of persuasion, she finally gave in and agreed to spend one night – and one night only - discovering the joys of nature and helping her husband to claw back a long lost dream that was still, in his mind, very much alive!

And, so it was, that on a tour of the Austrian Alps, a camp site was found, and everything looked set for a night near to nature. They had succeeded in getting to know their immediate neighbours, and, it looked as though the maximum of fun in a field was about to brake out. My friend’s wife, amazingly, seemed to be enjoying it all.

But then it happened. To my friend’s utter dismay, he couldn’t find the tent! He almost turned the car upside down and inside out looking for it, but it was no where to be found. How would his wife take it? Would she be very disappointed?

Surprisingly, she took it very well! In fact, my friend thought he saw a look of happy relief on her face, and, as they drove off in search of a 5 star Gasthaus, her smile seemed to grow by the minute.

But then came the mystery! Whilst unpacking the car back home in Vienna, my friend found the tent. It was right there in the boot where he had packed it! But where was it when it was needed? This, he says, will remain a mystery for ever! Obviously, the night in the tent just wasn’t meant to be – and the holiday, despite the no-camping, was simply fantastic.

And 5 star great holidays are better than the cold of a tent, and, that’s how it’s going to stay. My friend has decided that camping has become a definite thing of the past and will never return. He took his “not-finding the tent” as a sign – and, maybe his wife did have a point – tents are simply very uncomfortable – especially for ladies (and men, too!) with bones well past 50!

Nj- summer 2011 – njmailboy@gmail.com

Market Forces

Basket Weaver - photo by Nigel A.  JAMES

Weaving a Thread Through Life

This lady, a weaver of baskets, is selling her wares at Veszprem, a small market town in Hungary. According to her dress, she is from the far east of the country near the Rumanian border. Her neatness and pride reflects not only the quality of her goods, but also her experience. She has been a weaver since childhood.

Nj.

Anita Fodrasz

Nigel A James is having his hair cut by Anita Fodrasz whilst Maxi B. Acs is taking the picture

Short Cut to Success

Independence in life is one of the greatest treasures that exists, and, that’s what Anita Fodrasz had in mind when she set out in life on the path of a hairdresser.

Of course, after a hard training, Anita had to comply with the wishes and rules of the bosses she worked for, but then, one bright day, her future appeared, not high in the sky, but just below ground in a disused cellar in the high-rise socialist block which is home.

It was just what she had been looking for. In front of her eyes was the perfect short cut to the life that she wanted, a future hair dresser’s saloon of her own! Her vision was beginning to put on a form of its own.

And so it was, with brushes and paint and her family joining in with their sleeves rolled up, that this once storage hole for old boxes began to take on the dimension of Anita’s dream coming true!

And it happened, a saloon as Anita had wanted. And, judging by her success, the people of Veszprem, the town in Hungary where she lives, wanted it too!

But, her customers aren’t the only ones who are happy! With her apartment just five floors above, Anita has all of the time that she needs for her little boy of four; and, her husband has never long to wait for his favourite meal!

And that’s the key to it all. Happiness comes with the things that one wants, and, Anita is able to give everyone the thing they like most – good looks! And it’s all thanks to her original dream which took her to the top at the bottom.

nj - August 2011

Still Waters

Still Water - photo by Aranka Ács



For August, I have chosen the following poem by A. E. Housman. He wrote it in 1925.



To My Perils of Cheat and Charmer


I to my perils
Of cheat and charmer
Came clad in armour
By stars benign;
Hope lies to mortals
And most believe her,
But man’s deceiver
Was never mine.

The thoughts of others
Were light and fleeting,
Of lovers meeting
Or luck or fame;
Mine were of trouble
And mine were steady,
So I was ready
When trouble came.

Jolan Neni - A Short Introduction

Jolan Neni - photo by Nigel A JAMES

Salad Protection

Living within the framework of a life in the country can sometimes be more than our minds can imagine. There are the smells, the noises, and, worst of all, there are the flies and their buzzing. But insects of wing are no match for Jolan, for she can keep them at bay!

Jolan Neni has been living in the depths of the Hungarian countryside for as long as she can remember; and now, with a series of children, grandchildren and now even great grandchildren to her name, she has one or two things that would be good to pass on, and her method for keeping the flies well away is one of the best.

It’s all to do with tomatoes. A long time ago she discovered that her favourite salad component was the one that flies hate the most, and she’s been putting it to good use ever since.

And she began with her pigsty. Jolan Neni discovered that a sprig of tomato, if hung above the entrance to the sty, would, as if by magic, stop the flies flying by and upsetting her pigs. And the results were amazing, lots of very happy pigs!

And happy pigs mean very tasty meat and the same goes for her chickens as well – but it doesn’t stop there. Her eggs are the best that anyone knows, and her fried chicken and chips are simply divine. The smells and the noises of countryside living are one thing, but the solid way of life is exactly the way it should be; our imagination isn’t too wrong.

Jolan Neni is happy, her family is happy, and her animals live happily, too! Tomatoes, it seems, are more than we think!