Maggie's Farm

At our house today, we've been following the Queen's Royal Regatta on computer, since our stupid local stations on TV were clueless enough not to show it. It rained, of course, it always does, but didn't dampen the spirits of the hordes of folks who turned out for it, in boats, big and little, and on foot along the banks of the Thames. The royal barges, which are normally kept in a museum in Greenwich, were bravely repainted and repaired and looked gorgeous, and all kinds of other boats joined in the fun, even some of the veteran boats from Dunkirk, a rescue which should live on in legend.

In case you weren't born yet, and had careless history teachers, just before the official opening of World War II, some 115,000 British troops were trapped on the beach of the Channel, with not nearly enough official boats to quickly evacuate them. So, as always, the British citizens turned to and everything from fishing boats, sail boats, life boats, channel steamers et al were drafted to get the soldiers home quickly, sailing from every port that would serve. In less than three days, they evacuated more than 95,000 soldiers from the beaches where they were trapped, some going back and forth several times. What a story of heroism that is. Makes me tear up every time.

If you can find it on the 'Net, the Queen's Regatta and Boat Show is a lot of fun to watch. The indomitable Brits had a wonderful time, in spite of the weather.

Marianne

Thank goodness for the British newspapers. We managed to piece together a pretty good view of the Queen's Regatta by the end of the afternoon. Elizabeth looked lovely and very happy to have her family about her. But the most gorgeous of all was The Lady in Red, otherwise known as Catherine Duchess of Cambridge. She wore a truly delicious clear red dress, perfectly cut and perfectly simple, with a wonderful small red hat. She drew all eyes, I must say, and many reminiscent smiles from the older men, like my husband, and fiercely attentive looks from the younger ones. My husband and i are at that stage in life where jealousy and envy take too much effort. It's better to just enjoy. Beautiful are the works of God, as one of my musician friends once said.

Marianne