AYE! AVAST!

It was a very low key session with a couple of pirates in the Rock last night Kev, who was reasonably sober, grinned at me through his semi-ZZ Top beard and offered to take me to see Long John Silver’s grave, and his mate (Long John’s that is) who’s name for the moment escapes me. Now I don’t know about you but I have always believed that Long John Silver was a character in a Robert Luis Stevenson Book. In fact Stevenson describes him thusly:

"His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham - plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling".

Apart from: the left leg, which Kev is still in possession of; the crutch, which Kev could probably do with but doesn’t yet have; dexterity, which is hard to believe Kev possesses; the height, Kev is not what you would call ‘tall’; it could be mistaken for a description the man himself! It’s hard to see what is under that facial hair but it could be ‘plain and pale’, and even ‘intelligent and smiling’. Long John Silver and his mate’s grave, in Hampshire, Kev said. Hampshire is a lonely town if you are the only pirate boy around, I thought, that’s probably why he had his mate with him. I started to worry about the quality of the service that Kev had done on the engine of my boat.

I left him with another pirate who was ranting about how penguins were the superior species because they took it in turns to stand on the outer ring of the circle and share the protection of the others from the artic temperatures. Ozzy John challenged me to a game of pool. Well it was a matter of national pride, I had to win. And I did 2:1. A miss spent youth always pays off in the end, I find.

As I waded back down the tow path to sanity-sanctuary a barn owl swooped under the bridge. The air was mild and the rain light; it would get heavier through the night. I can’t say for sure but, in one of my dreams, I think I saw Kev on the shoulder of a parrot!


Footnote:
I got a comment emailed to my blog from someone called Ferritito.

Ferritito said: “I'm watching your space, man! Keep it real, take it easy”

I tried to reply to you Ferittito but the link didn’t seem to work. All I can say is that I am trying to keep it real, but as you can see, I am really up against it! However, I am taking it easy! Thanks for reading the blog dude.

PS: I know a ‘Ferret’, any relation?