Minnie’s Musings

Did more work trying to fathom SQL coding. Made scrambled eggs on toast for lunch. Eyed the sky suspiciously.

Departed for Oxford to visit son, rang residential home to say we were half an hour away and drove straight into a traffic jam. Shortly after idly wondering why lots of drivers were exiting the motorway at a minor little used junction with sudden swerves to the nearside lane. Spent a good half hour in said traffic jam measuring progress against branded lorries in adjacent lanes.

Decided that we would stick to original plan and go to local stately home (where I could visit another gift shop and have more tea and – possibly – cake). Downpour erupted but we persevered.

After random purchase at gift shop and tea with scone and cream – in for a penny, in for a pound – we took a leisurely stroll through the gardens. There was quite the most enormous flotilla of ducks on the pond. Best Beloved’s fun fact for the day: it is the females who do all the quacking. He didn’t know why, so I offered several suggestions including herding ducklings and sources of food.

Detouring to avoid a steep slope, I met an Indian tour guide, occupying herself while her party visited the house, who asked me how to get back to the entrance. She had never visited before and wanted to know a bit more about the gardens. Just above us was the memorial walk to Winston Churchill about which – Best Beloved had archly observed (not half an hour previously) – neatly avoids his more controversial antics including India and Gallipoli. It does this by focusing on key dates alone.

In this day and age, one feels obligated to acknowledge that one nation’s hero is another nation’s enemy. Our great historical figures are littered with such persons (Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell etc). There are very few people who can claim to have been wholly good and made sound, entirely ethical decisions during the course of their lives. For some, by accident of birth or naked ambition, the actions they take have consequences for many if not millions. It does nothing to detract from the victories won or atrocities committed to acknowledge the atrocities committed or victories won. I would argue that the crucial word to use is not ‘but’, which implies excusing or criticism, but ‘and’ which acknowledges both.