Saturday 10th August

It’s my wedding anniversary. I’ve been married for 30 years!
Last night it rained waking me up but of course the tent was fine. Today is cool so far but with a blue sky. I noticed people walking about with little paper bags and walked down to the main road to investigate. I saw a queue of people in what looked from the outside like a post office but on closer inspection it was a bakery so now I have some pastries for lunch in absence of any other open shop. There is another solitary man here travelling by motorbike from Germany to the French alps he says. I complemented him on his light packing. He has a sensible small tent but on closer inspection I see he carries a large rucksack as he rides and I have to say is rather overweight, so probably we equal out (only Bertha is larger and more powerful than his Japanese dirt bike).

This campsite is aimed at and is full of young families and it reminds me of the few times we camped when the boys were small. In the toilets a father was guiding his toddler to not wee on the floor while the little boy sang a song throughout. How strange that life is all a game to the small. Adults aren’t often to be found singing while doing life’s shores, mostly it’s builders next door but the rest of us learn to be serious and focused.

I finished Where Angels fear to Tread with breakfast. It is nicely written but rather dated of course.

This morning I plan to take a short walk up the hill before it gets too hot…. It was very cool up there with a convenient little hut with its pitched roof just when I needed it. This afternoon I’ve spent reading Reissman’s book on narrative analysis, with a degree of scepticism. Published in 1990, Derrida, Freud, Foucault, Levi Strauss and a host of post structuralist thinkers don’t appear in the index. For me this is a rather parochial investigation, rooted in US feminist sociology without even the continental feminists like Kristeva influencing the ideas.

Biking to the Black Forrest

I leave in a couple of hours for Harwich for another trip to Europe. The end destination is the Black forrest and a visit to Martin Heidegger’s hut and the Touratech HQ and shop. The first day’s travel is about 400k aiming for a campsite on the Rhein.

Screen Shot 2014-08-06 at 15.32.31

Here’s a suggested musical soundtrack:

By the Rhein

same tune at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVcmRR5urFs

then the cowboy version at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRke2ty8Q0Y

Then further south there’s this classic from 1965 – the theme starts at 0:23 so don’t stop before then
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wldcc8uxMLU

then there’s the Hammond organ version

Ride to Dunwich

At last some warm and sunny days and the prospect of sitting by the sea pulled me over to Dunwich, 75 miles from Cambridge. Its a beautiful ride on the A1120, after a short blast on the A14 watching out for speed cameras. Above the stoney beach is the Dunwich Tea Rooms where you can buy a pot of tea and a scone for £3.75.