ink marks on a blank page Monday 16th March

Driving back to chez robbi after a swift sojourn to the shops I was pulled up at a traffic light when I idly looked across and spied a gentleman sitting at a bus shelter. Nothing outstanding about that you might say, true, and normally you would be right,but. This gentleman looked exactly like Kenny Rogers. large in body , thick white flowing hair and a beard exactly as Kenny wore. Actually this fellow looked more like Kenny Rogers than Kenny himself does. As the gentlemen on the late night TV ads keep telling us "but wait there's more", there is more. He was also dressed, down to the smallest detail ,exactly like the MAN in Black....folks it's Mr Johnny Cash (We're doing mighty fine I do suppose/In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes/But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back/Up front there ought to be a man in black.") Right there bus stop 27 ( a go zone) Johhny Cash incarnate, and Kenny Rogers, though I didn't look to see if he was wearing a SuperMan T shirt or had his undies on back to front as the light changed and I had to move off.
I know what you are all thinking, robbi has such a sad life, really I don't mind that at all, happy in my quest to unravel the bizarre in our so-called normality and in fact I write this as the Kenny/Man in Black thing has a bearing on what I was going to write about (also is a picture)

Yesterday at breakfast I looked out the window and there perched on the verandah fascia was a large Praying Mantis( Hierodula majuscula ). We all know these insects, they use camouflage as a means of blending in to the scene so that predators cannot see them , thus not becoming a meal for an owl,bat etc.Mantids have hollow bodies so that they can 'hear' a bat sonar squeak as it flies through the night., and then duck for cover. The particular Mantid I observed looked just like a twig from the garden in front of the window,even down to the stripe in the middle of its back. Why was it on the fascia? well the rain pelted down some hours later so I guess it was sheltering from the coming rain as it was gone this breakfast time. Who (or what) was the man sheltering from at the bus stop? we will never know as I moved on, his bus would eventually arrive ( go zones run every ten minutes) leaving us none the wiser. Whatever he is seeking in life I hope that it crosses his path, he does have a 50/50 chance as he was being two things at once, whereas a Mantis only has one go at a time, your'e either a twig or a green leaf,Mantids cannot be both at the same time..

If the above sounds as though I am having a cheap shot at the way some folk like to wear their particular skins then not so, who am I to judge, a fashonista is something that I most definitely am not. That how we appear to folk in general is to define in a small way who we are is a social issue, one that I am not qualified to rule on . Needless to say if a chap wishes to dress like Kenny, then he should be able to providing he isn't up to nefarious acts .

I know Hortense 'fings aint wot they is 'sposed. Got a little ahead and also behind myself with this blog. As always though I was full of good intent, oh please don't say that Horty. I also know that many times I am 'full of it', you do not have to rub salt into the wound. Events of the week dear Hortense, made one a little busy don't y'know. That meeting I went to Monday night started the rot, I then had to write a very long email to that lovely Dr who is chair of the committee and tell him that as long as his bum points downwards then he has no hope of forcing this State government to do anything. His committee have to get the sweaty mass of the public onside, they can do that easily enough and mobilise public opinion. Talk about mobilising Hortense, you got that way this AM did you not ! Wow, I haven't seen you move that fast for ages.
When you opened that little diary you keep next to the phone and saw the huge Tarantula inside I thought the worst. But then the robbi saved the day and put the little fellow outside, swiftly ,calmly and without any fuss or girly like screams. Then you really freaked when you went down the passage to the bedroom and saw that huge Daddy long legs spider devouring his breakfast of an earwig. I thought that justice for the earwig so I just left the spider to it.
Note that I continually refer to these spiders as 'He/Him' when we both know Hortense that the really big agressive ones are the female of the specie, are they not. Just being a gentleman there Hortense and like all of my kind simply shouldering the blame and responsibility. Just like the Chairman of AIG insurance et al.

There is a small confession that I make Horty old girl. It is thus: On walking to the Hospital to attend that meeting I found myself trotting past Cocolat, not being one to pass a golden moment up I did slip in for a quick one, only a small one mind with two flavours only (vanilla/berry yoghurt). There, I have that slight aberration of character behind me and can face the world almost without a blemish.
We will go to the moving pictures Saturday and WE will have a Gelato, happy, sweet Hotrtense ?