APAPS 22.12: A Chinese Take-Over, Europeans Outnumbered

 Well, last week´s minor Eastern Influence became a full-scale Chinese Take-Over this week. Read all about it.

Luckily, things were made easy this week for the Blogger because, quite unprompted, our anonymous contributor has once again provided a comprehensive report on the latest APAPS outing, saving the Blogger from too much compositional thought, with only a few other  incidental comments being required. 

Here is our contributor´s masterpiece, in full, unedited and unexpurgated. Do not worry if some of the references and words are unfamiliar to you; a glossary is appended to interpret.

Confucius, he say: "The world belongs to those who get up early. "

Aristotle, he say: “I agree, old chap!”

Europe Men 2 - Asia Ladies 4. Outgunned.

Faye, Hazel, Myriam, Yves, Rachael, JohnH

Having thus established the basics, the happy troop of early-rising walkers and their Leader left the sleepy café in the hope of a dry outing.

 The sky looked ‘mi-figue, mi-raisin’ with broody clouds surrounding a hazy sun, somewhere in the East… As if to underline that we were surrounded and outnumbered by Eastern ladies; we did not mind: we IS mens!

Myriam spotted a hollow tree and truied iot on for size.

We soon realised also that among these ladies were at least TWO World Champions: one Squash player with never-ending legs and enough reach to floor Cassius Clay and one Apnoeic talker with enough lung capacity to outlast anyone daring to put in a word edgeways…

Aristotle mark 2 gives a horticultural lecture on the prickly pear

We won’t mention Figaro’s Mum who was recovering from his injuries: apparently, the Young Moggie gets into noisy scrapes that do worry Mum as she tends to hurt paws and feelings!

As is his prerogative, the Leader had instructed the troops that 07.30 was good enough and that the outing would be ‘easy walking’: Pah!
Before we even left the tarmac area, we encountered the first 1-in-3 slope! ‘Easy walking!’ Mercifully, it was only 12-feet long… A marker had been laid.

This was followed by a couple of 1-in-4 reaching almost 10 yards! Where was the Leader? In front, well out of earshot, that’s where!

Big dogs and.......

small dogs.

As the terrain eased up, the ladies found their natural gait: leisurely to lazy, with many stops to scrump figs and pomegranates................ 

Indeed, there was so much scrumping going on that a poor scarecrow decided that he was not up to the job

and gave up.

........to admire the surroundings, to chat with field workers and delay them as they race to finish their ploughing before the rain,.......... 

a month ago, this field was full of stone terracing

now it is completely flat. 
Myriam and Hazel asked the farmer and her dog where the stones were

She had tried to sell them but nobody was buying, so she dug a large hole in the field and buried them. She will now plant strawberries in October ready for sale in the spring.

.....to pet dogs, to have a chat, to explore the bushes off-piste, to reminisce about the markings on cork trees, as is ladies’ wont…

Back to school?

Unfazed, the leader guided his charges back to the café with unerring punctuality.

´Àllo, ´Állo. I shall say  wear this only wance

 

We were met at the café by Chris and Antje who shared breakfast with us.

Rod then appeared, too, and he suggested that he might start walking again: good man!

There he is, at the far end.

Breakfast was the usual happy, noisy, joyful mêlée of food shared, jokes exchanged and general banter that our hosts are familiar with by now: ‘It’s that lot of Estrangeiros, led by a Scotsman…Smile at them.’

As some had to leave, the heavens opened and the dash to the car was sufficient to negate the need for a shower at home: drenched, your writer was!

Never mind, it had been another good morning; thanks to all!

Your Glossary as promised

 Confucious: Kong Fuzi. a clean shaven Chinese sage: c.551 -c. 479 BC.

Aristotle: a bearded Greek philosopher and polymath: 384  -322 BC.

Aristotle mark 2: a bearded 21st century AD Francophone walker, photographer, wit and raconteur: extant.

Mi-figue: half fig.

Mi-raisin: half grape.

(Aristotle mark 2 is here using a French  expression "mi-figue, mi-raisin" (which is a way of saying of a person´s character that he behaves in an ambiguous way) to describe a morning sky that hasn´t yet decided to be clear or rainy. I told you he is a wit, didn´t I? ´) 

Apnoeic: describes one who, when talking, does not pause to catch breath.

Thanks to Rachael and Yves for some excellent pictures. Here are two more:-

Our closing music continues on our recent theme of atmospheric conditions and is in recognition that the rain held off during our walk but did eventually arrive.

Falling Rain Blues, by Lonnie Johnson:-

                               Finally, a moment for reflection

                                         Requiescat In Pace