Robbed

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So there I was in the sunshine, eating a lunchtime sandwich whilst sitting on the grass in a park adjoining the river in Bath. Suddenly I felt a whoosh of air and next thing the bread, butter and prawn mayo filling were flying through the sky in the beak of a gigantic seagull.

I realise that seabirds like their shellfish; I even know that getting up snug and close to nature is good for you, but being mugged in broad daylight by a winged predator wasn't quite what I was expecting! Who even knew that gulls would be such pests so far inland? Let's just say the incident was traumatising and in addition to the involuntary squeal, left me shaking. That bird was enormous!

Unfortunately it wasn't the only transgression I suffered during my time away. Indeed somebody clearly took a fancy to a decorative scarf I had with me and it disappeared. To be honest its value was negligible but the pedant in me that clearly sees right from wrong, still finds it difficult to cope with the idea that somebody could commit such a crime against my property. 

Clearly the fact that I am devoting a blog entry to the trespasses suffered on my travels must suggest that I am still seething. Perhaps I am but the seagull incident has also provoked many rounds of hilarity in the retelling of the story.

Moreover, the calm and wise individual that is being nurtured by retirement is doing her best to put it down to an isolated dose of bad karma. Twelve months from now the loss of a sandwich and a scarf will be of no consequence. 

The one year test is the yardstick I tend to use when measuring any disaster that might befall me. If it won't matter then, there's no point letting it upset me now. Acceptance: it's all part of retirement life and another milestone on the path of prolonged happiness.


Comments

Treaders said…
Those buggers are quick aren't they!!!! I remember being on the Gold Coast in Australia and there were signs everywhere to "beware of the thieving magpies". I thought it was a reference to pickpockets - until I saw people walking down the street waving their hands madly above their heads trying to fight off the magpies. The movie The Birds came to mind - horrible buggers! Sorry about the scarf though!
13 July 2022 at 15:31
Bob Lowry said…
I am sorry, but the lunch-snatching bird is a funny image, at least from my perspective 5,000 miles miles away.

You are so right: an irritant today becomes a funny story at some point in the future. But in the interim, we all seeth!
13 July 2022 at 18:50
Caree Risover said…
To be honest Treaders I hadn’t even noticed any seagulls until this one swooped from the sky and it was only afterwards I saw the sign on the litter bin in my photo. If gulls that size really did start to behave the way Hitchcock portrayed, we really wouldn’t stand a chance and I’d certainly go hungry! It is actually funny now recounting the tale, Bob, but I did quiver with shock at the time.
13 July 2022 at 19:12
Christie Hawkes said…
That's terrifying Caree! There's a park not far from us that sits on a river bank that is very popular with the geese. I tried to each lunch there once. Never again. Those geese were loud and somewhat aggressive. Even though none got away with my lunch, I was looking over my shoulder the whole time. Not the relaxing nature break I was hoping for.
13 July 2022 at 22:26
Caree Risover said…
I confess I’ve always avoided eating anywhere near big birds: swans and peacocks for instance; the slightest crumb of food and they can go wild. As for geese with their reputation for making good guard-dogs, picnic or no picnic I try to keep my distance. Sometimes it is easy to forget that wildlife must have earned the wild in its name for a reason!
13 July 2022 at 22:55
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