APAPS 2017 no.6: This is the Waning of the Age of Aristotle

 

 

 

All the warning signs were there, of course; one should have seen it coming. Philosophy, photography, choreography - there´s only so much responsibility one chap can shoulder. It´s too much to expect him to handle topography, and chronology as well.
And so it was that there we were: hanging around in a chilly wind outside Retiro dos Pescadores, and no sign of Yves, normally so prompt. A solicitous phone call managed to located him. He was in Silves, pacing up and down outside the Law Courts, waiting to meet up with a blonde. (At that time of the morning? I ask you.) I had to break it to him gently that she had stood him up and that he was already 10 minutes late. Within 5 minutes, and with the mighty roar of his turbo-charged VW engine, and he had joined us.

But it was already too late. The damage had been done. Myriam had been quick to move in. Airy Turtle (384 - 322 BC) had been deposed in favour of the rather older Confusious (551 - 479 BC). Her first analect was "All the men should be one." which Terry and I are still trying to puzzle out.

A.T. did manage the dance practice OK, and to be fair to him, it is clear that there is a considerable improvement over the previous week´s effort.

Present: JohnH, Myriam, Hazel, Ingrid, Antje, Rose, Ember, Rod, Sascha, Terry, Java and, a bit later, Yves.

And this is our erstwhile teacher´s end-of-term class assessment:

"Bonjour la classe ; voici vos points pour cet exercice de style, d’équilibre et de joie de vivre (at our age, any joie de vivre is worth grabbing with both hands, I am told).

Alors, en dépit d’un léger retard occasionné par la stupidité pure et simple d‘Aristotle, la classe a bien dansé! (Reports of the ‘late Aristotle’ are greatly exaggerated ; I think !)

Les points:

John: 2 points despite taking a sneaky rest on the wall behind him;

Confucius: 2 points, plus 1 point for dancing almost blind under that rim;

Hazel: 3 points; it cannot be easy to be the meat in the sandwich and smile;

Ingrid: 2 points, the bent knee is clearly the result of too long a stay in the apes enclosure at the ‘Tier Garten’;

Antje: 3 Pünkte, plus 1 für dem Hund aber minus 2 für kein Fuss im Foto;

Rose: see anywhere above, plus 1 point for that hat and one more for reaching as high as Rod’s shoulder;

Rod: 1 point, has ability and can do better with a little commitment, will be watched next term!

Terry: 2 points: pinky almost along the seam of the shorts and smiling convincingly, minus 1 point for tying Java to the post, cheat!

Java: 1 point for looking so happy at the prospect of another joyful outing with geriatrics;

Aristotle: hors-concours despite radiating such élan with no visible means of support!

Note: later in the toddle, he unearthed a metal dish in which he hoped to collect some alms but Sascha made a very strong claim and kept that dish…

The Lyceum will regroup next term and may yet remain under the enlightened guidance of Confucius; qui vivra, verra!

 

Bonnes vacances à tous et à toutes!

A."

The Track

 

The Statistics:
Distance: 7.30 kms. Total Time: 2 hrs 4 minutes.
Moving Time: 1 hr 39 minutes. Ascent: 367 metres.
Moving speed:  a very creditable 4.30 kph,  a speed necessitated by the fact  that we set off a lttle bit behind schedule (seulement un léger retard, according to our Paris correspondent) and had to get back for the breakfast arranged for 9.30 am.

Our track was along the canal, into the valley by  the house where the barking dogs seem to delight in hurling themselves against the steel gates. Then up one side of the valley, a brief climb up to the ridge, back down the valley on its other side, and a return along part of the canal.

Confusionism reigned on the outward leg when, traversing some overgrown tracks, Myriam fell full length onto some thorns. It was, according to observers, an exceptionally graceful fall. She alleviated the damge by applying genuine Tiger Balm, the real deal, she told us. When I was in Singapore in the 70´s, there was simple Tiger Balm, produced by the Aw family´s company, Haw Par. Now it seems, you can get Tiger Balm White, Tiger Balm Light, Tiger Balm Extra, and Tiger balm Ultra, etc., etc. Which one does the true Confusionist use, I wonder. Perhaps the Singapore stuff is a mere imitation of the real Chinese deal.

Up on the ridge, there was a liquorice pause and all was going well until the peace was shattered by a piercing scream. Antje had lost her sheep (of black liquorice).
After that, tranquility restored as we moved back downhill on the return leg.

Going back bty the canal again, we passsed something lying in the mud that looked very much like an unexploded landmine. Rose and I made a run for it but Yves bravely prodded it with a stick and unearthed the silver metal plate he mentions in his contribution.




                     Return Leg: on the extreme right of the pic, Yves can be seen  (just) washing his bit of treasure trove.
Safely back at O Retiro, we had our breakfast, this time not reinforced in numbers by the Boys from Lagos, Chris and Paul having other things on their plates. Service was perhaps a bit on the slow side, but the bacon was ample, and Ingrid and Hazel helped out by manning the toaster.

The meal was then augmented with juicy figs and plums from Senhor Bento´s Horta Pescadores and by grapes from Horta Esperança.

              Refreshment worthy of a quatrain or two by Omar Khayyam

Since Aristotle has now retired to the French Alps to recharge his inspirational batteries, we hope that next week the choreographic duties will assumed by Ingrid who, after recent extensive research conducted in the dance salons of the Reeperbahn, will surely have some interesting positions to teach us.


Closing quotation: "Always read the small print." (Advertising Standards Authority)