A Table for One

Dear Reader, 

The strange windows in the photographs are "witch windows" mostly found in old farmhouses in Vermont,USA. Tilted sideways at 45 degrees from vertical walls they can confound architectural aesthetics, discombobulating the eye.   Folklore says that they were designed to prevent entry by witches who were believed to be unable to fly their broomsticks through crooked openings.

                                                                                *

I understand that there are mice at Buckingham Palace, trotting about where they will.  The Palace is a very old building and is exposed to a variety of pests. The house mouse is generally a nocturnal animal, although it can be active in the day time during food shortages. Apparently Barack Obama didn't tell his wife, Michelle, about the mice when they spent a night there, as she is terrified of mice.  

Mice moving around rely on their speed and agility to remain unspotted and escape predators.  The only purpose they travel is to get food and while mice are timid, they can bite.  They eat anything they can lay their paws on including their own droppings. They are sensitive to bright lights and have poor eyesight but survival instincts cause them to avoid larger animals and being active at night helps them avoid being seen by predators, as well as people. 

I have had mice in every house I have ever lived in and they terrify me too.

                                                                               *

From Gilbert White, 1786, July 15th in Hampshire

'Made jellies, and jams of red currants.   Gathered broad beans.....The cat gets upon the roof of the house, and catches young bats as they come forth from behind the sheet of lead at the bottom of the chimney.'

From Samuel Pepys, 1667, July 14th in Surrey

......in the cool of the evening all the way.....We had the pleasure to see several glow-worms which was might pretty.'

                                                                              *

A Table for One

The woman sat alone
in a corner
at a table for one.
She ate slowly
sipped from a wine glass.

I guess she was middle-aged
or a little older,
an ordinary woman
who seemed immensely sad.

She started talking to herself
he mouth making silent words,
took a handkerchief from her pocket
and wiped her eyes.

What was her story?
had she been to this hotel before
with a lover who had left her,
did she come back to this place
to grieve each year?

I don't know her story
but she touched my heart.
I longed to cheer her,
speak to her but I said nothing.
I often think of her,
wish I had been braver.

                                                                                *

With very best wishes, Patricia