Christmas Time

Time of course is what we Timelords are about. And Christmas Time is one of the times we care about very much.

I was reminded how very special time is at Christmas when I went to call on the Tractor family on Christmas Eve. Tractor Boy was giving his mum a fair amount of earache about opening a present - like now if not sooner! Tractor Mum made the very fair point that if he was in Germany he could have a present now because that is how they do things there. But of course they are not there.....they are here.......so that cut little ice with the little chap.

Then Tractor Man tried again and said that if Tractor Boy was in Spain he could not have his present until 6 January . ....which as we all know is another year away.....because that's what they do over there. And it just goes to prove it must be better here than in Spain at least if you want your Christmas presents now.

And if that is not enough there are certain parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church where the calendar is still 13 days behind the rest of us so there you wait until 7 January for Christmas Day and many believers still observe Christmas Eve as a strict fast day.

I thought it best not to mention this extra nugget of information to Tractor Boy. By this time I was beginning to detect a touch of frustration creeping in.

I did wonder though about saying to Tractor mum when I next meet her that if she is quick about it and books a cheap flight to Moscow she and Tractor Boy can have a second Christmas within a matter of days. And with plenty of snow and snowmen thrown in for good measure.

In the end Tractor Boy was convinced that the time for opening presents had still to come by the simple fact that the four carrrots on the bench near to the door of his house had not yet been eaten. Because until they are eaten by the hungry reindeer it is certain Father Christmas has not come and until he comes how can there be presents to open?

Wesley

Wesley the sheep came to join us in the Tardis in September. I rescued him really from a very wet Grasmere.

He soon made friends with Tiger the cat and is quite used to reindeer. His chums back in the Lake District phone him from time to time and I often wonder how all those herdwick sheep manage to get into the phone box all at the same time.

There is no doubt that the a few gentle baaas here and there break through the silence now that Teapot is with her father for a few days. Although he did not like my eating a tasty lamb hot pot the other night.

He is no trouble and a quick munch up and down the back garden come rain or shine is all he needs to put a smile on his face.

Wesley does have quite a liking for music. A rousing worship song or especially a hymn written by his namesakes sends his eyes rolling. He is looking forward to Christmas and hoping he will hear the Messiah again. But I know he finds it hard to follow the bit about the sheep going astray.

Now and then he comes with us on our travels. He went to Cornwall the other week but made it clear the Lake District is still the best.

He may come out to the carol service this weekend just to see if the shepherds are still watching over their flocks by night.

Keep an eye open for him.

Operation Kratos...

....or martial law on the streets of London.

I have spent a lot of time in London these last 2 weeks and travelled regularly by Tube. Friday was one of those days and coincided with the end of the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest.

Jean was a Brazilian in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was shot on a tube train by police officers on 22 July 2005 wrongly believing hime to be a terrorist about to detonate a bomb. After the 7/7 bombings earlier that month the anti terrorist units within the Met were on high alert with several sightings of suspected suicide bombers in the days immediately afterwards.

In one way Jean was another victim of those bombings. But I have felt the agony of his family and been unnerved about what our police have been asked and trained to do in what amounts to shoot first and ask questions later. Operation Kratos is the strategy. Kratos the god of war.

So we had the coroner effectively endorsing this startegy by refusing to allow the jury to return a verdict of unlawful killing and the jury showing what they thought of that by returning an open verdict with sone highly critical comments on the anti terrorist operation that day.

I imagine I will be returning to London before too long. And I will be travelling by Tube. Defiantly. Defying those who would wage jihad against us and who have brought martial law to the streets and transport network of our capital.

Cornwall Time....

Teapot and I went to see our friends John and Jeanette Creber in Cornwall last weekend. They moved to Stratton near Bude at the beginning of the year.

John says there is a different way of looking at time in Cornwall. Things take their course when they will.

None of this is a surprise to me. In fact a welcome change from my usual "just in time" approach to catching trains and the feeling every working day has to be crammed full.

Yet even Timelord raised a Spock like eyebrow when I walked into the local Christian bookshop with John and I was asked if I was John's son!!

I confess I am still trying to work this out:

- has my friend aged so much in the last 12 months?
- did the controls of the Tardis behave badly on the journey?
- is there a few weeks work in Bude for my friend Mrs EB?
- was the shop assistant away with the fairies (or the pixies)?

Help please......