Bavarian Bay Watch

Who knows if the voluntary parish branch of Germany's Water Life Saving Rescue Service will be needed or rather, allowed to operate this year.  

The DLRG is the largest voluntary life-saving organisation in the world, started in 1912 when a pier collapsed and 16 people drowned because they could not swim. Still today, drownings are a huge problem made worse by the austerity programmes that have cut the number of public swimming pools and school swimming lessons.

Today for the first time in 18 years, I went down to the small "peninsular" where it is positioned on the biggest of the quarry lakes. There is a dog ban here,  Quite happy that this is so but can't understand the parish council doesn't also offer an area (there are loads of possibilities) for dog owners. As with most things here, one simply uses some sense & goes at the right time. Rules are there to be broken!

The reason I went down there today was that I didn't have a dog with me and was in a very sombre mood.

As explained yesterday, I was at a GPs today & had to wait 15 minutes. Not wanting to touch any of the magazines and desperate not to show my anger at the odd co-waiter who coughed, got out my phone and did one of seldom checks of emails & messages.

To my initial delight, saw my old friend Annie who I had written to on Saturday 29th, had replied. Delighted until I read the text. Her husband Richard who had been suffering from a fairly unknown form of cancer Myeloma had died in January. Seemingly all had been well & all of a sudden he fell at home and couldn't get up. After waiting hours for an ambulance, he was admitted to hospital & responded well to treatment & was due to be released after two days. But then suddenly he went downhill & died the following day. Seemingly his immune system was so weak.

Ironically Annie has spent her whole life in the NHS and retired only a year or so ago. I met her when she was a trainee nurse at the Middlesex Hospital off Oxford Street in London in 1973 & we were together until 1976 when she left me (rightly) and was then with Richard.

We had never met, nor have I seen or spoken to Annie since then. Still hit me very hard as I know what a great relationship they had, three wonderful children & six grandchildren. The youngest child had only got married last year and they had both been so happy he had 'settled down'.

I suspect the 'new' GP was a bit surprised at my solemn appearance but she was extremely friendly, chatty and thorough. Confirmed the diagnosis of my GP but said one now needed to go up one level on cream & pills and should it not get better within 24 hours come back on Friday as there was a third level. So at least that was a good experience & I can go there again with confidence if/when my GP is on holiday.

As it happened, on walking out bumped into the old retired GP with whom I had had so many problems. The practice is in his house and he was pottering about in the garden. He is as such a very kind man, very sociable & social thinking. My problem was his medical knowledge! Anyway, we had a good chat.

On the way home, had to go to the lakes to be alone for a few minutes to think about Richard & Annie. The thoughts did not go away for days.