Climbing in the Swiss Alps

 

Climbing in the Swiss Alps

It was a time of plenty

Nineteen Seventy.

I attended my first dinner party

at a semi in Bellevue 

and there between Liz and Mary

I first ate Swiss fondue.

It was a time before houmous 

a time before falafel

but I recall a weird vinegar mix

of red cabbage and stewed apple.

It was a moment of metamorphosis 

a phase transition in societal class,

a moment of social danger

should I fall on my working class arse.

But that was then 

and now is now.

Times gain was social ease.

So in Two thousand and twenty-six,

when I dip my bread in the fondue pot ,

I just savour the molten cheese.

'Spleeny' George Roberts. October 2026

What the old want to hear.

 

What the old want to hear.

 Professor Penrose has a working hypothesis 

That in the brain stem, at the quantum level perversely, 

"When we appear to be completely 'brown bread'

Something uniquely us, is shared universally".

This is quite reassuring whether unproven or unprovable.

Because when it comes to take the terminal breath. 

The return of our quantum souls to the Universe 

Is undeniably preferable, to absolute death.

George Roberts, slightly  bleak, Interwebs Doggerel. October 2026

Stromboli the Movie

 

I stumbled across this video clip taken with my smartphone from the upper deck of a 'tossing' boat 'heaving-to' just off the uninhabited side of Stromboli. 

There is a lava lake or pool near the summit, which from time to time over flows and lava rolls down the sides to the sea.

Where have all the stars gone?

 

Altair in Aquila

The Sky at Night Paradox

If there are trillions upon trillions of stars

Why is the sky at night so very very dark?

And why don't stars leave their light starry mark?

If you go down to the woods you don't get a big surprise 

All you see around you is a dense green wall of trunks, leaves and trees

So the stellar paradox remains a conundrum, an astronomic tease.

When we look up and out into outer space

We see very ancient starlight from times long gone by

Because the speed of light is fast but finite as photons tend to fly.

The reason the night sky is so very very dark 

Is the missing stars are many billions of light years away, not at all cosmicly close or neighbourly near

And their light, traveling at 300 million kilometres per second,  is in transit and still awaiting to appear.

George Roberts  October 2026 Stellar Doggerel

The Square of Pegasus and the Andromeda Galaxy on my phone.

 

Photo taken with a Google Pixel 8a smartphone and DeepSky Camera Pro App. Post capture processed using freeware Affinity Photo 3 on a laptop.

It has to be said that George Roberts is not good with either touch screens or smartphones!

 However this photo of the Constellation Pegasus, which also managed to pick up the Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million lightyears distant, turned out better than was originally envisaged. Maybe he should read the App manual?

The Lamp

 

The Lamp

In a land far away and all around

In a cave deep underground 

Is a lamp most magical.

Outside stands a tin soldier on guard

Not barring access just making it hard.

For a lamp that shines bright 

Shines the shortest.

The lamp was forged amongst death and pain 

A time of nothing 'to lose and all to gain'

It burned bright 

In those far off days!

Few now remember that the lamp is there

Or what it is and hidden where

By someone's choice it's light has been all but extinguished

To protect the precious flame.

Each day another soldier takes his place

A nameless soul by god's good grace

"I will protect the Lamp with my life" said the tin soldier.

"No with ours" said a chorus of soft voices from afar.

George Roberts - weary doggerel October 2026

Evolution's lesser appreciated triumph.

 

'What is it- it's a tree - there's lovely' translated from the original Welsh.

Evolution and Grandma

Humans, Elephants and Whales

Share 'the menopause' 

Not the fierce and stripey tiger

However much she roars

Evolution was architect of 'the menopause'

For longevity, it placed the unique female right of birth on permanent hold

Protection for information continuity's cause

Grandma boldly going forward long after Grandad was 'trotters up' and cold.

So Grandchildren, when Grandma tells her wise story

Hold her old hand and listen carefully as together you cuddle, huddle and sit.

Because your own Grandma  is 'Evolution's Great Glory

And of her unique Grandma knowledge, future generations may well depend on it!

George Roberts -Tooters doggerel. October 2026