WHAT AN AMAZING TREE: A CHANCE ENCOUNTER ON OUR WALK.

     

        I could not resist the urge to sit at this inviting perch presented by the diverging trunk of this magnificent almost luminous orangey tree. Bibha and I were visiting Greys Court, a stately home in Oxfordshire, looked after by National Trust.

 

        This rather modest house is set in an idyllic expanse of green countryside. The manor has existed in one or the other form since 11^th century and is listed in the Domesday Book as to be held by a Norman knight Anchetil de Greye.                      Its large garden was renovated and redesigned by the last occupier of the house Dorothea Elizabeth Irving, Lady Brunner in mid-20^th century.

         We had a guided tour of the house and then wandered off to the walled garden just next to the house. it was tastefully laid leading a visitor to various separate areas or rooms as they are called. Each area is designed differently with different types of plants and trees brought to United Kingdom from various corners of the world. The flowers were spectacular, and trees were magnificent. The last room was an orchard full of fig, apple, pear and plum trees of different varieties. The apples and pears trees were laden with fruits. One of the gardeners, working nearby allowed us to pick a few.

        Outside the walled garden is a huge garden and an arboretum. By the time we walked into the surrounding woodland we had done a few miles. We felt a bit tired. I started looking for a bench to give a little rest to our legs. I can sit on the ground, no problem, but getting up is a bit difficult to put it mildly. There was none in sight. We marched on.

        Then suddenly this beautiful tree came into view. I have never seen any tree so handsome. The trunk and the branches were orange coloured, the whole tree glowed in the sun. It had a big canopy of shiny green leaves on the top. My photo does not do justice with the real tree.

We sat on one of the stout thick trunks which had an almost horizontal perch. A good place to enjoy our freshly picked apples!  I wondered what the name of the tree was. While taking my photo Bibha pointed to the tiny label sticking behind my legs. Arbutus andrachnoides. It did not make any sense to me; I thought to google it at my phone but changed my mind.  I would do it at home. Here, just enjoy the nature.

        While tracing our steps back to the car we came across the same gardener who had allowed us to take the fruits. I described the tree to him. he immediately said it was his most favourite tree too. And he went on to describe a lot of fascinating stuff about this tree in a very animated and amusing way over the next ten minutes. Here I am just putting the basic summary and I must apologise for not being able to reproduce his wonderful style.

        The parentage of this tree is remarkably interesting, it is a naturally occurring cross (hybrid) between two species of Arbutus – Arbutus unedo and Arbutus andrachne. These trees are native to Mediterranean and Middle East. The scientific name is professionally written with a cross in the middle Arbutus × andrachnoides.

        Apart from its striking colour the tree has many other equally amazing features.  It has beautiful white flowers with a tinge of red and they are fragrant too. The fruits mimic strawberries and hence its common name Strawberry Tree! the fruits are edible and do have antioxidant properties. What's more, It is evergreen, so looks equally stunning even in the dark desolate winter months. No wonder it gained the Royal Horticulture Society's Award of Garden Merit!  

    But as the Biblical saying goes, there is a fly in the ointment. This tree is infertile, it does not produce viable seeds. Well, all nice and beautiful things do have a little bit of flaws, don’t they! 

GOING ON A HOLIDAY: A LESSON IN TRUST & TRUSTWORTHINESS

First due to surgery on my knees and then due to covid-19 pandemic we haven't been abroad for almost four years. Now things have improved, the travel restrictions have been eased or even removed in many countries. We decided to take a plunge and booked a holiday in Rhodes, Greece for a week.

Our flight was from Stansted Airport, about an hour and half drive from our home. Instead of taking a taxi I reserved a place in the Airport’s long-stay carpark for 7 days. There was a regular courtesy shuttle service from the carpark to the terminal

We arrived at the airport carpark about four hrs before our flight. Within the carpark I was driving slowly when I saw a white van marked with the airport parking logo. I stopped my car near him, the driver came to us. I showed him my parking ticket and asked him if it was the correct section of the carpark. He confirmed that it was. I thanked him and started in my quest for an empty slot.

I had to drive down further as most of the nearby places were already taken. The same patroller came to my window and asked me to follow him for a better slot. He brought us right in the first lane and indicated me to park there. He said it was near the shuttle stop and it would be convenient for us. It certainly was. I could see the bus stop just fifty yards away.

I then noticed that there was a signboard there stating that it was for disabled badge holders only and any unauthorised cars would be towed away. We would be returning from the holiday at midnight and the prospect of facing that scenario was not very palatable. I said to him that I would leave this slot for the disabled drivers and park somewhere else. He said not to worry, he was the carpark patroller, and he was authorising me to park there. I parked the car in that slot but I was still worried.

I said to him that he might not be on duty when we return after holidays and requested him to give me something in writing to display at my dashboard in case there was any problem later.

 He went back to his van and came back with an A4 size paper on which he had written “Allowed in Bay by Patroller” and he had signed it underneath. We put this paper on the dashboard, got our luggage from the boot, and came to the bus stop.

Bibha and I were still worried. Should we trust this man? Why was he being so helpful to us? What if, he was colluding with the towing company and generating some income on the side?

Then again, why should we not trust this gentleman who was being kind to us. We are in our seventies and to him must have looked frail for dragging our suitcases from the far end of the carpark to the bus stop, particularly in the middle of the night. The van he was driving did have the logo of Stanstead airport parking, he had an ID badge hanging from his neck and he looked kind and honest to me. 

We agonised about this till we got into the plane. Now we could not change anything, so we decided there was no point in worrying about it. It was better to put our trust in the trustworthiness of the patroller and enjoy the journey.

In Rhodes we enjoyed lazing around on the beach and exploring the long and varied history of Rhodes Island.

On the last day of the holiday while packing our luggage we both exclaimed simultaneously “hope the man in the carpark was trustworthy.”

Our plane landed in London just after midnight. We took the shuttle to the carpark.

When we got off the shuttle bus at our stop in the carpark, we saw our car a few yards away where we had parked, no clamp on the wheels and no penalty notices on the windshield. We were the only couple in this vast carpark, it would have felt intimidating walking hundreds of yards alone if the patroller wouldn’t have allowed us to park in the disabled carpark.

I felt guilty for judging a man presumptuously despite all my education and culture. Or was it because of them?

 It is drilled into us from the very childhood, not to trust a stranger and sometimes we carry that into adulthood.

Fear of strangers might have been useful in long past of human history when most of the people lived in close-knit small communities. Now living and working in big cities and frequent traveling we must trust many strangers daily, like the people manning the hotels, restaurants, taxis, hospitals, online stores etc. How will we ask a stranger for a direction when lost!

Surely, once in a while we might be deceived but not trusting any stranger will make our present very miserable and unhappy indeed.  

I think in most day-to-day scenarios it is one’s own willingness to trust that is lacking not the trustworthiness of the stranger. 

A CHRISTMAS GIFT WORTH A SATISFIED SMUG SMILE!

 

A CHRISTMAS GIFT WORTH A SATISFIED SMUG SMILE!

I got an aftershave as a gift on the Christmas day. It is one of the commonest gifts that people get and give on this festive occasion. Look in any of the gift shop windows during this time, you would be sure to find a plethora of perfumes, aftershaves, and such, displayed in brightly colourful, eye-catching packagings. The newspapers and the magazines are bursting with half to full page adverts of big brands. On the television a lot of very creative, sexy and glittery adds start appearing in primetime slots. Online the social media is awash with similar adverts.

 I was incredibly thrilled to get this. My old one was almost run out. I was planning to buy a replacement soon. As I have not got a favourite or “can’t live without” brand, choosing one in the shops becomes very difficult, more so because this is a nonessential item, at least for me. The merchandise available in the stores and online is truly astronomical. I would have spent hours in sampling quite a few of them and then found out that the one I had taken to the counter was so expensive, it would not be a justifiable spend, ethically or financially.  I would be back to the drawing board!

 An essential item is much easier to choose and justify its price than a purely luxury item. Even though financially I can easily afford a really expensive object, I do fill a sense of guilt when the item is not a need.  I am not alone in feeling that. After all, “guilty pleasures” and “buyer’s remorse” are very frequently used British idiom and phrase respectively, not for nothing!

 The feeling of guilt in spending excessively on a Want not a Need, comes from the fact that it reminds one of conspicuous consumerism and the appalling economic inequality. It is also related to a niggling feeling that the money could have been more useful in doing something charitable or of more utilitarian value.

Last year after much rummaging I found an aftershave I liked, it had a classic, crisp fragrance, and the price was not too high. When I was taking it to the till to pay for it, a co-shopper conspiratorially offered a completely unsolicited advice “you would find it much cheaper online, I bought it yesterday on Amazon”.  I did thank him but I am afraid my hesitation betrayed my frustration and annoyance at the time. I put the box back at the shelf and later that evening ended up spending an hour or so on Amazon, the online shopping giant. The aftershave was indeed fifteen pounds cheaper but I spent another eighty pounds on other bargains!

Now you can see, why I was so delighted with this gift. This was like having three gifts in one: an aftershave I like, removal of guilt and the last but not the least, a big chunk of time. What is not to be chuffed about and have a smug smile!