One of the things crammed into my day was the completion of another step at the foot of the beach path to stabilise the previous final one. That suffered badly in a recent heavy downpour.
I refilled the first step with rocks and sand in replacement of what had been washed away. Then I dug the section of telephone pole lugged down yesterday deeply into the bank on one side, and put stakes in to keep it in place on the other. After filling that step up in turn, I dug drainage channels at the foot, to take the water off the path where it has been starting on a Grand Canyon.
Let me see, now – that extra one makes it 147 steps from top to bottom. Good exercise, and certainly worth the effort if one wants a beach with a spot of privacy! Only monkeys to be seen. Vervets, not holidaymakers.
Oops. I’d better qualify that in the light of the ridiculous furore created when a certain Penny Sparrow got herself into hot water by likening black beach visitors to monkeys. Her big mistake was in singling out a particular group when in fact holiday crowds of whatever hue, origin, race or religion have shown behaviour rather worse than our fairly well-disciplined local monkey troop – and the monkeys are at least cute.
If people actually do eat like pigs or turn a place into a pigsty, or chatter like magpies, or smell like skunks, or laugh like hyenas, or behave with all the elegant sophistication of baboons, then observations on these lines are valid in describing them. The trouble is that in the hysterical race-sensitized atmosphere that has been built up, one has to be sure that no particular race is the subject of such comparisons, or the criticism becomes racist rather than a deserved insult. Even the ruling party has now started adopting a tactic of describing all attacks levelled at them for their pathetic record overall as having racism at their root.
© June 2016 Colonialist (WordPress)
What a lovely trail, weel worth the work.
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It is, indeed. I have come back to this comment and been reminded that I need some more inspections. Things have been hectic on the home front lately.
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Do you ever feel as if you are fighting a losing battle? I’m talking about building stairs on sand, but I could be referring to so much more! 😉
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Everything one builds has a limited life – some less limited than others, like pyramids. If one has fun building them, and fun using them when they are still there. and avoid stress when they fall down, then it is mission accomplished! Of course, some things one builds require constant maintenance – like relationships.
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” hysterical race-sensitized atmosphere” That phrase hits the nail on the head.
It used to be common to use animals in literature or satire – now you get slammed for it.
Just stupid. People used to be able to laugh at themselves as well as others. All waaaay too puffed up wtih importance now.
Mom always said “It’s not the person to be disliked – it’s their behavior that draw negative comments and attention” .But that was back when commonsense was common place.
(and we are yet in another torrential downpour here – this planet going through a car wash or something?)
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Yes, as gipsika says, one is now watching the most innocent phrases. Clarkson got clobbered for reciting a ditty for making a choice, which was oft-repeated without any thought of insult to anyone. Now my granddaughters ‘catch a tiger by his toe’. Isn’t that speciesist?
Our car wash seems to have a break in the water supply.
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Looks like hard work, but I understand your goal, must be awesome to have a private beach … I am sooo jealous.
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Being one of those with access is some compensation for having to give up the private beach up the road which was our very own. It is well worth paying for the privilege with a bit of work so as to be seen as giving positive input.
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Excellently put. PC is killing us. I can’t even point out that some soft-drink contains “caffeine” in public without a few heads turning in utter shock, only to process (one sees how the pennies drop – no pun) that I was not talking about a person!! I dread the day soft-drinks develop consciousness!
How are things with the Darxem? I’m going to email you. & really really, we need to visit!
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Prissy PC, including the types attached to racism, feminism and religion, simply puts my back up.
Darx has unfortunately gone into coma.
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Hard work on the steps was successful.
A ‘politically correct’ insult would be to say someone eats like a bird. (Most people believe they eat sparsely, but they actually consume about 3x their weight every day!!)
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I love it!
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They’ll think it’s a compliment!
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Great achievement, that path of steps. I take it you share my low estimation of politicians.
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Even the five or so I added were quite a mission.
If lower than slug-slime, then indeed!
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great post.
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Thanks – the brigade currently ranting on ad nauseam about racism might not agree!
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well said
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