Today was day three of the Frome Festival which was combined with an augmented monthly version of the Frome Market that happens every Saturday. I found the atmosphere was such that I could indulge in my naughty and outrageous habit of making comments to everyone and anyone with a pulse.
That’s not quite true because some people radiate ‘don’t come anywhere near me’, so I don’t. Others who have a haunted scowling expression I avoid, women with noisy children don’t quite work for me engagement wise but pretty much everyone else male or female single with a partner young or old is fair game.
We arrived about 20 past 10 to find the town center already blocked off and parking difficult to find. I could not believe the number of people that were assembled and the number of extra stores mostly selling food.
This is a notice board outside the Town Hall. There is if anything too much activity so anyone who tries something new has a fair amount of competition but I guess if these were not successful they would not even be advertised
I don’t think I’ve seen crowds like this for some time in Frome. Many people were dressed in bright clothes for the occasion. I found the standard of friendliness and humour very high.
I heard a man talking with a South African accent and so told him how nostalgic it made me feel whenever I hear such accents. I told him that I specialized in guessing how long people have been away from the country of origin because the more extreme elements moderate over time though some remain. I guess he’d been away for 25 years and he said that it was actually 22 years so that’s not bad.
There were a group of jolly players alternating every half an hour. It was called the ‘busking stage’ and the quality again was very good.
The Cheese and Grain center hosted a Clothes Show with second hand or pre-loved clothes being sold at very reasonable prices. I saw a lady who had picked a lemon yellow or orange type dress. It was diaphanous and it struck me as adding something to her and I didn’t know what it was so I told her and she was very pleased and said it was the second occasion that she had been told that.
Someone else was raising funds for their son Rory age 15 to go to Peru and they were raising £4,700 for all his expenses. What a noble love this mother had. I told her I thought she would succeed.
I met one of the men from the Christian men’s group that I attend in Frome and found myself complaining that there weren’t enough meetings because you if you have 25 keen people who turn up they deserve a bit more than one meeting every two to three months and I frankly think that the organizers have run out of steam. I don’t want to spread my energy jam too thin here but I will be quite happy to serve on the committee and get a little bit more activity going. With my experience it is not difficult or time consuming
I decided to look out for professionals in gut health or microbiome we can say and engaged two stand holders who were selling vinegar which is an amazing substance. I asked them if they would like to meet professionally for peer group support and sharing and they both singed enthusiastic.
I’m thinking of doing a small group. By ‘small’ I mean 6 to 8 people, so I shall keep them in touch and then bring round. I thought I would make the basis a Somerset cream tea which I would have on Sunday afternoons.
Someone had the bright idea of having a living room outside so they bought a couple of large settees and set them up; every one chatted and had a good time.
the first time I have seen a club with such a name – why not
Not the best picture of my whole life but these people were dancing synchronistically and creating somewhat of an illusion when they moved their black and white legs alternately. In the background was some rather curious German music but who am I to ask questions
Here was a group singing traditional tunes including what looked like a Town Crier. The word crier comes from the Old French crier, meaning “to cry out,” and refers to someone who makes public announcements.
Everyone had fancy dress on and they made a joyful if not perfectly harmonious noise but who cares. Note the illustrious background of a newly opened Poundland
Severe Radiation alas
Overall it was a joyous light feeling, almost family
I had to note that my Bluetooth connector detected 625 mobile phones within range. Just imagine what it would have been like in Glastonbury. I could not stand such a crowd for a long time because I find that when I am exposed to EMF for some time I feel heavy and sick and I know that’s one of the effects of such fields. If you are not vulnerable then thank you you’re lucky stars.
Off to my secret Baptist Church
Once a month I attend my secret Baptist church in the middle of nowhere for a 3pm service. I arrived to find five people in attendance which by any normal standards would be regarded as sparse. After my arrival shortly before 3 p.m Steve the speaker, turned up preceded by the organist. In a funny ‘local way’ we were complete and the service started.
A mission to Merchant Seaman
Steve ministers to merchant seamen many of whom live very difficult lives, where the pay is not always adequate for the job done and where they are often separated from their partners for up to nine months. During this time, problems can appear in the relationship. He is presented with all sorts of situations during his tenure which must require huge amounts of tact, compassion and diplomacy.
Many people from Far Eastern countries for example Filipinos, have to earn money to send home and this is the only way they can find of earning a living even though it is not ideal.
I’m not sure which missions Steve works for, it could be the Mission to Seafarers which works in over 200 ports worldwide. Their slogan is ‘we provide help and support to the 1.89 million crewmen and women who face danger every day to keep our global economy afloat’.
He says the job is dangerous and can result in deaths. If a person is taken ill on a ship there may be no doctor available. NB Seafarers are responsible for transporting over 90% of the world’s goods and fuels so next time we consume something maybe we should spare a thought for those who have got it to us even to the extent of fuel in our car
Using the Otter app.
For the first time I decided to use my app otter.ai to directly transcribe the words of Steve and after these service finished I sent a copy of it to my email which you can do in either plain text or PDF format. This is how it seems to work. It can only work if you are connected to the internet.
Hopefully the strong and clear voice of the speaker and be heard by the microphone in the mobile phone. It will then make a rough translation and show it on the screen but meanwhile a record of the conversation goes to a computer based somewhere probably America and it will examine it to see if it mixed sense and then channel a corrected copy back maybe five seconds later.
These software of Otter is very beefy because the results are pretty much 100%.
Anyway I chatted away to Steve and I discovered we had a very similar sense of humour. When biscuits were served I made the dreadful pun ‘that takes the biscuit’ and he responded by saying ‘crumbs’. I was motivated to say to him that we should disengage ourselves from the need for any thanks or acknowledgement for what we do or say, if it is given to us to say something we jolly well say it.
In other words all we are asked to do is to plant seeds and it’s up to the other people whether they grow or not. I told him I specialized in speaking to complete strangers and trying to cheer them up a little bit and said that I very rarely gets any offense taken and my impression is that the vast majority of people are hungry to be listened to and spoken with.
