I was going to write about something else today but I’ve totally forgotten what it was.

It’s been an interesting and quite wonderful week, I packed the car last Monday and set off on a road trip with Cairo on Tuesday.

Milo’s getting on a bit and doesn’t really have the patience needed for four hour drives.

So it was just me and the girlie.

She lay in her bed on the front seat for around 15 hours of driving, taking in, Gloucester, Portland, Llanelli, Newark and Clumber Park before returning home on Saturday.

We didn’t pause for more than 5 minutes at most services – we had a coffee and a walk with one of the Feral Ponies on Tuesday at Gloucester Services but otherwise we stopped for as short a period as possible.

She’s amazingly calm in the car and as long as she’s with me isn’t bothered by anything.

We met old friends in Portland and I spent two days with some of the best people I know in the whole world, walking, eating and drinking and taking in the beautiful scenery and amazing history of a part of England that isn’t that well known.

We also took a photo that is now a tradition.

It was with some regret that we left Portland but we moved onto Llanelli and another old friend who somehow ties this little story together.

I’ve known her since around 2008 and we used to run training courses for our company, with me as the ‘expert’ doing the actual job that we were preparing others for.

She’s a gentle soul and is constantly trying to get herself into harmony with ‘the universe’ and it was her who first gave me the notion of invisible wheels of varying size that sometimes click over in our favour.

We walked the beaches and she cooked a fabulous dinner before we discussed the book that she’s writing- it was fun to play a little with her constructs and give a totally impartial view while asking questions about

Why?

How?

And.

Are you absolutely sure about that ?

We did another walk along the beaches and paths in the morning before I packed Cairo and the car up again for the longest part of the journey.

And the part that worried me the most.

Newark.

And people that I’d only met for an hour or so once before.

One of them is a Twitter friend and that’s always been a fairly good indicator for me – people are usually their real selves after a while and I’ve not yet met anybody in real life that I didn’t really like.

But I was staying in their house, with their new dog, that I helped to source for them.

With the fucking Canine Angel of Death.

And a dog half her size.

I found Dottie (the dog) was up for adoption by chance and was actually offered that the chance to adopt, but two dogs is enough really and I knew that these people wanted another Jack Russell.

We met for a coffee before they went to meet Dottie and I was convinced that I could feel those universal gears sliding into place.

And so it was.

And then some.

Cairo and Dottie were amazing together, no dramas at all, unless you count Cairo killing some toys…

And dinner was one of those wonderful occasions when you find that you’ve met people who you like very, very much.

And the universal gears kicked in a bit more, Dottie’s new Dad had actually been her old owner’s commanding officer in the army and they knew each other.

Dottie was being given up because the grandchildren were allergic – no other reason – and so she is with people who will love her and protect her for ever.

Both Cairo and me had a wonderful time and we’ll all stay in touch and meet up again.

A long walk around Clumber Park on Saturday morning and then home after a two hour drive.

A BBQ on Sunday and a long walk this morning that could have turned very nasty.

Two much larger dogs sprinted out of a gate and had a go at my two ( on leads) – they backed off and then the bigger one grabbed Milo.

Cairo leapt and pounced, digging her fangs into his ear and throat and both dogs ran off, totally outmatched by her speed, power and ferocity.

I had a little chat with the house owner and we walked on.

So there’s a few stories here.

I met my old friends and made some new ones.

I travelled quite a bit of this beautiful country, from beaches to hills, quarries to countryside, big houses and flats, through rolling hills and river views finally coming back to my own little piece of land and the view of the hills as I write this with a beer on one side and Cairo on the other.

And I saw our flag everywhere.

Shops, houses, bridges, roundabouts and on actual flagpoles.

It’s a tenuous connection at best, but Milo, Cairo and me are Pack.

We’d die ( or most likely kill) for the others and I’m seeing encouraging signs in our country that the wider pack may just be waking up.

Who knows?

Happy Bank Holiday.

I’m not much of a religionist, the whole concept, particularly organised religion makes that little voice in the back of my mind ask too many questions.

I was asked to leave midnight mass many years ago when I broke down into a fit of laughter.

Nobody ever did see the funny side, but a married couple two rows ahead of me were giving it the full devout treatment.

He’d been selling her for blow-jobs in the back of one of the pubs two weeks earlier.

Each to their own though, my hypocrisy just doesn’t run that deep and to be clear; I’ve known some very religious people who have been amazing humans and fantastic company.

I’m nowhere near to being an atheist though, I’ve seen some strange stuff and dallied with Hindu gods in my time.

Of Gods and Thunderdogs

Quarantined Dog

I read an awful lot and I walk hundreds of miles a month, the two things combine nicely in my mind, the peace of walking in countryside and woods allows my little brain to make sense of some of the things I’ve read.

I never really think about religion or gods though, not unless something catches my eye or I half-hear something that makes me question what I’ve seen or heard.

And so it was yesterday.

A normal walk, five miles of canals, woods, roads and fields.

And I followed one of the dogs into a little copse that’s usually more enclosed.

To see this tree and the vine on it.

I had a vague notion that it might look like a rune, ran it through an AI and the answer was that it did look like the Algiz Rune.

The runic symbol Algiz (ᛉ) is from the Elder Futhark alphabet.

Algiz, also known as Elhaz, is often interpreted as representing protection, divine connection, or awakening, and its form is visually evocative of a person standing with arms raised in a gesture of defense or invocation, elk antlers, or a stylized tree with branches extending upward.

There’s a load of information here.

https://vikingr.org/magic-symbols/algiz?srsltid=AfmBOopdL3JYDWVHjI-BM98j3FxHxvIQtUgsX6aVIAsg6Sz10SDgUp0N

It’s interesting in its way and the idea of the symbol, once you’ve seen it, can’t be unseen.

I’m sat in the orchard while I write this and I’m sat in the shade of two silver birch trees with my two little protectors – or they’re sat with theirs.

I’m not superstitious, nor a true believer in anything.

I’ve always had a strange affinity with crows (and knives but that’s another story) and if I ever see them, I pay a little more attention to the world, especially if I’m driving. There’s no logical reason for that and it sounds a bit dumb even to me, but it’s hardwired in for some reason.

But this post is about signs.

I saw a tree and vine that made me think about things.

While I’ve been typing this, Spotify has been running a playlist for me.

A song by Mike and the Mechanics has just played, it’s maybe the first time I’ve heard it in ten years.

Silent Running.

‘Take the children and yourself
And hide out in the cellar
By now the fighting will be close at hand
Don’t believe the church and state and everything they tell you
Believe in me, I’m with the high command

Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running? Can you hear me calling you?

There’s a gun and ammunition
Just inside the doorway
Use it only in emergency
Better you should pray to God
The Father and the Spirit
Will guide you and protect you from up here

Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel
Teach the children quietly
For someday sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still’

I was going to write about the need we all have to identify and protect those we love against evil.

But, you know.

A fucking song.

Anyway.

None of this means anything at all, but I do have something running in the back of my mind right now.

I’ll listen to it.

Oh yeah.

I also bought a T Shirt.

Anybody who watches my X feed will see that I gave Milo an arbitrary birthday date as I genuinely don’t know what it is.

I don’t know how old he is, I don’t know his full history.

I know that an obese man with a beard who may have done a menial job hurt him very badly.

I know that Warrington Animal Welfare are fucking liars.

And that’s it.

None of that really matters though, not really.

But today is a Sunday and it’s the 3rd of August.

And that’s the day that I adopted him in 2019.

I wasn’t alone that day, a friend came to see my aunt and uncle in Richmond, Yorkshire that day and it hadn’t been that long since their nightmare ended.

I’d spent a couple of years on that saga and the same friend was instrumental in helping with so many things.

That story (once afuckingain) is here.

In the end

I’ll explain later why this is relevant.

And while I was in the car, I got the call from Warrington asking me to pick Milo up that day, so a relaxed journey became more.

It was a shock as I’d only been to see him the day before, although a home visit the same day should have been a clue.

And so, many hours, loads of money at Pets at Home and a lot of driving, I adopted the little bugger.

That was a trigger for so many things and one of my biggest regrets is that I lost my friend and haven’t seen her since the end of 2019.

Still,

Having Milo made me understand what I actually cared about and, in truth, it was mostly him.

I didn’t give a shit – and still don’t about most people and I’ll choose him every single time over anybody left in my world.

He’s had some very painful operations – both his back knees were operated on, giving him a healthy hatred of the vet.

And when his friend from next door accidentally kicked him six feet into the air, I thought I’d lost him.

This was during Covid and I think that the vet who originally told me that I couldn’t carry my little buddy to the emergency table saw something in my eyes that he’d rarely seen.

Anyway.

A few hours later, the tough little fucker only had a cracked rib and it didn’t slow him down at all.

We’ve been everywhere in the UK together, he’s seen people come and go and he’s now had a very violent ‘sister’ for over three years.

Life isn’t perfect but, quite frankly, it’s as good as it gets.

I still have a social life that doesn’t include home, I’ve given up work for now, I’m vice-chair of the council, a trustee for the RAF and have been asked to be a school governor.

And this week, the investigative part of me kicked back in.

Twice.

I’ll anonymise this, but a planning application came in to the council, it was unusual so I did a little digging.

Fast forward two days and I’ve written letters to the head of the council asking for details of any contracts, to the CQC asking for an investigation and to HMRC to check that the non-UK national who owns the country pays any tax.

And then today, a field opposite suddenly had caravans and vans.

Nobody knows the actual details of who owns it, a few emails were sent to the council and – because it’s opposite my land, I wandered past.

While I was walking the dogs. I alerted a couple of the local landowners and I used all of the experience that I gained with my uncle, found the owner on facebook, then their home address etc. etc. and messaged them.

Panic over.

They were in their own field for the first time in 16 months.

This is the actual conversation with one of the landowners-

A strange Sunday but it looks like this right now.

Milo is asleep next to me.

My constant companion for six years.

Six years to the day.

With every day, even the bad ones, making me thankful for an arbitrary decision to adopt a dog, my little friend, smart and tough, funny and sometimes strange.

2193 days.