The Grapevine MagazineNovember 2006 Issue No 216 |
Daddy Long Legs |
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Why, Oh why did God create Daddy Long Legs?
They’ve got in the shower and into our beds,
They get in my hair and tickle my nose,
They’re stuck to the window and crawl round my toes.
Sometimes their fluttering and sometimes they’re dead.
Oh why, oh why did God make Daddy Long Legs.
When all’s said and done I want to know why
God made the beetles and the blue bottle fly?
And that’s not all for God made the slugs,
In fact he just loves ugly black bugs.
What’s worse he made fleas and mosquitoes too,
And headlice that jump from me onto you.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’d like to explain.
It must be such fun to drift in the breeze and dance in the rain.
I don’t want to sound like an old spoilsport,
But bugs should be banned and worms should be caught.
I just cannot see what purpose it serves
When they fall in my tea and get on my nerves!
But here’s a question that hangs in the air,
That dangles and tangles and makes me despair.
Why some creatures please and others do not.
I cannot remember, or have I forgot,
Why locusts and honey are so good to eat,
While spiders and woodlice can hardly compete.
But what is all this, said a voice in my ear,
“ Who darkens my counsel with words of despair.
I made the woods, the fields and the seas,
I made the birds, the beasts, and the fleas!
Why should you question that all have their place.
There is room for them all in God’s sacred space.”
“You may not know why the humming birds sing,
Or thrushes like snails and scorpions sting.
From high lofty mountains to humble green turf,
All have their being, their place on the earth,
Where even the zebras and daft kangaroo
Were made for the plains and not for the zoo.”
“The wild antelope, the grisly black bear,
Roam free on the mountains, then return to their lair,
While lambs in the fields and cows in their stall,
The grain in the fields and the ripe fruit that fall,
I give you that all may be fed,
But leave me the creatures that cannot be led.”
“And one day when I come to reign,
There shall not be either sighing or pain,
For Lions and Lambs will lie down with a child,
And teach us to love both the tame and the wild.
To care and to cherish the great and the small,
And there shall be peace and plenty for all.”
Though for now we can’t understand
Why cockroaches crawl or the universe is planned,
Let each take their place and each tell their story,
Let each have a voice and each their own glory.
For the water will flow to seas in full flood,
And the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God.
But what shall I say of Daddy Long Legs?
Yes even the tickling and teasing that begs
Me to question why God made them so,
Must lead to wonder at things I don’t know.
So thanks be to God from whom all things come,
And praise to His name, great things He has done!
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The children have enjoyed the start of a busy term. They have been extremely fortunate and enjoyed a variety of community visitors – including a doctor, dentist and two police women.
They have been investigating many aspects of personnel care. They have been taught how to brush their teeth correctly, eat healthy food and, most importantly, how to stay safe and keep away from strangers.
Thank you to all our visitors for supporting the Pre-School.
CAKE SALE THANK YOU
Many thanks to all those who made cakes for the cake sale.ART AND CRAFT DONATIONS
Please remember that as we approach the festive season any donations e.g. paper, card, pens etc will be most gratefully received.
QUERIES – Please contact Chris Selby on 07919 081088 for all enquiries. Stephanie London
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As a great admirer of McEwan in the past, the novel turned out to be a disappointment not only to me but to the others in the group. It describes a day in the life of Henry, a consultant neurosurgeon from a London teaching hospital, at the time of the mass anti-war march held before the war in Iraq began.. A confrontation Henry has with a group of small-time criminals in the street involving his car presages the big scene which is the climax of the book where two of the villains return to terrorise Henry and his family and the book ends with Henry saving the life of one of them by performing life-saving brain surgery.
The group felt that the painstaking detail in which the brain surgery is described did nothing but pad out the text and thought it was totally unbelievable, from an ethical and forensic point of view, for Henry to have been allowed to operate on the criminal when it had been he and his son who had caused the head injury by throwing the man down the stairs!
We thought McEwan has been seduced by the dollars earned from the film made of his previous book “Enduring Love” as well as “Atonement”, (currently being filmed with Keira Knightly in a starring role), and has written “Saturday” with a view to the book sharing the same fate or rather fortune.
Interestingly, our next book has just been filmed and we hope to get the inside story of this from one of the group whose son has been involved in the making of the film. It is “Stardust” by Neil Gaiman, an author we have not read before. Also in November we shall discuss “We Must Talk about Kevin“ by Lionel Shriver which won the Whitbread Prize in 2005 and in January a book set in South Africa by Rachel Zadok “Gemsquash Tokolosh”
Elan Preston-Whyte
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The Lewknor Gateway Project is about the provision of information about Lewknor village and the surrounding area to help local people and visitors to find out some of the interesting aspects of the village and to encourage everyone to get out and about and enjoy the countryside around us. There will be a display of local information in St Margaret’s Church and a display panel near the Leathern Bottle showing places of interest. Information panels will also be placed in the bus stops at the M40/B4009 bus interchange.
This is a small scale project funded by the parish council together with grant funding from the Trust for Oxfordshire Environment and Government’s Sustainable Development Fund. The parish council has worked closely with the Parochial Church Council, the Chilterns Conservation Board and Oxfordshire County Council to develop the project and it is expected that everything will be installed by the end of November.
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Last month we should have included a list of local tradespeople who supported the Horticultural Show
We do appreciate the help that was given by local supporters:-
Leathern Bottle,
Lambert Arms,
Calnans,
Foxgloves,
The Galley,
Robinson Sherston,
Post Office Watlington,
Wine Shop Watlington,
England’s Rose,
K Avery & Son,
Print Shop Watlington,
Copas,
DB’s Hairdresser Watlington,
The Granary,
The Pantry,
The Gift Shop
and Postcombe Garage.