Dark Skies and Street Lamps

I decided to take a Daily Kickstarter from last month's Writers Forum magazine for this week's Blog.

The sky at night - not the well-known programme, the dark sky above us each night. But how much of it are we seeing?

As Yorkshire's National parks and other wild places celebrate their Dark Skies, would you like to see fewer or no street lamps where you live?

Those that know me will remember that I have been a keen astronomer. My love of our Solar System and the Universe started in Primary School in the late 1960s. When Kathy and I moved out to Stoke Fleming in South Devon, I got my first telescope and started viewing the cosmos.

The rear garden of our bungalow faced south over Start Bay. It was and probably is still a

very dark sky. From Spring onwards, the Milky Way appeared from over Start Point in a beautiful display. We are looking at the third spiral arm of our galaxy, The Milky Way.

My first steps with a telescope brought an incredible view of the great planet Jupiter with its four main moons. When we lived in Stoke Fleming, I was fortunate to view nearly all of the planets in our Solar System, including Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. I was lucky to view the blue planet Neptune. It is truly amazing to understand that by looking through a telescope, you are not only witnessing worlds many millions of light years distance but are looking back in time. My Maths teacher, Mr Simmons, always told us that travelling back in time would be easier than going forward.

We have Exmoor National Park in Devon, which has Dark Sky status. In Cornwall, Bodmin Moor and West Penwith have the same accolade.

When we moved to East Devon, we eventually settled for a few years in a lovely bungalow with huge gardens front and back. Unfortunately, the back garden was west facing, and the orange glow tainting the sky was Exeter. I was able to see a few sights. Kathy even bought me a star for Christmas which flirts around the western horizon. To see the southern sky, I had to use the front garden. The view was spoilt by…yes, you guessed it, street lamps.

Councils have been trying hard to lower light facing upwards by investing in LED, Light Emitting Diode, Smart Street and Intelligent Street lighting. However, in these days of ever-increasing costs, these have taken a step backwards.

Not too far from where you are, even in towns and cities, there is a little place that can be your own personal dark sky. Take a look upwards. You'll be amazed at what you can see.

My first effort at Jupiter and its Moons

Links:

https://www.darksky.org/

Fruit Cake?

 Fruit Cake is unfairly maligned - That's the statement.

First up, Full disclosure, Fruit cake is my utmost favourite.  

An often asked question. What did the Romans ever do for us? Fruit Cake, the Romans, gave us Fruit Cake.

That is likely not the answer you were expecting.

The earliest recipes for Fruit Cakes are traced back to ancient Rome. Ingredients then included were pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and raisins mixed into a barley mash. Later on, in the middle ages, honey and preserved fruits were added.  

Fruit cake recipes proliferated throughout Europe. The recipes varied significantly by country, depending on the ingredients available. Church regulations over the observance of fasting forbade the use of butter; however, Pope Innocent VIII (1442 - 1492) granted its use in his Butterbrief of 1490. It permitted Saxony to use butter and milk in Stollen fruit cakes.

In 17th century England, fruit cake was yeast-based and used Rum and dried fruits, which extended the shelf life.

Pianoforte

 In Italy, Panoforte (meaning strong bread) is a dense, chewy cake,   heavily flavoured with spices, dating back to the 13th Century Sienna in Tuscany. Also, there is Panatone, filled with dried and candied fruits with a bread loaf consistency. It's now well known across Europe and this country, especially in shops like Lidl and upmarket places such as Fortnum and Mason in London.

In England, rich dark fruit cake is traditional fare at Christmas. They were also traditional for wedding cakes, where the top tier was preserved and saved for the christening of the firstborn child. This tradition has fallen foul of the influences of our American cousins. Sponge and heavily creamed cakes seem more in favour.

Our wedding cake was four-tiered. The bottom two tiers, made by myself, included nearly a litre and a half of Rum, dark brown sugar, butter, eggs (from the farmer in the village), Black treacle and flour. The bottom tier was 20 inches and took nearly five hours to cook. The top two tiers were vanilla and chocolate sponge cakes.

Throughout the 90s, whilst serving with the Royal Marines Band at BRNC Dartmouth, I had a little side hustle making christening cakes for band members. There were quite a few young families in the band at that time.

My Mother used to make Grandfather, her father, a Dundee Cake each Christmas. Dundee Cake is a traditional Scottish fruit cake flavoured with Whisky and decorated with almonds. Being a proud Yorkshireman, my Grandfather always had his piece of cake with cheese. I am trying to remember which cheese he had. He had a favourite Danish blue cheese, but I think that was that one. I, too, like to have cheese with my fruit cake, a lovely mature cheddar is my favourite, and I go a little further and have an apple.

In answer to the question, is Fruit cake unfairly maligned - probably yes, but plenty of people enjoy it.

Now, what am I going to have for afternoon tea?

Weird Writing Prompt Happenings and the First Writing Tip of the Week - It's all happening here!!

 I've written, more than once, that I subscribe to two monthly writing magazines. I have succeeded in both getting letters published, and I have entered several competitions in them.

I look forward, each month, to when they arrive through the door at home. They are two slightly different publications, both doing the same thing, encouraging us to write and assist with all the 'technical' stuff while writing stories and poems.

Both magazines regularly have a couple of pages of writing prompts. These are brilliant ways of waking the writing muscle daily and can lead to something else, as did the one I tried on Tuesday. 

It was rather weird. As we approached where we were going, I spied someone on the roof of a bungalow. The man was removing roof tiles and stacking them up. Fair enough, but the Health and Safety Officer in me sparked my 'spider' senses. He wasn't wearing a safety harness and had no scaffolding or safety surround. If he slipped or fell, he would be in real trouble.

Getting back to the writing prompt, what do you think it was? Here is the prompt;

Create a scenario starting from the question: Why is that person on the roof?

Who is telling the story?

Why and how have they observed the person on a neighbouring rooftop?

What is going through the observer's mind?

What might happen?

Write a new piece of prose or poetry stemming from watching the person on the roof and wondering what they're doing.

After about an hour of writing, I came up with a story which I think that with a bit of editing and reworking, could be the next story for my entries to the Bath Flash Fiction awards,

I seek further writing prompts to stir the story writer in me. I am enjoying entering these competitions. You never know; I might win one someday! 

Tip of the week - always email your work to yourself. You'll have a copy saved, and it will prove your copyright.