The pond en vacances ...

 

 

The pond isn't yet up to its daily dose of reptile stew, and given the weird disparity between their response to Gladys and to comrade Dan, that's probably just as well ...

Instead the pond has turned philosophical, as with that ancient graffiti ...

Cum bene Sol nituit redditur Oceano;
Decrescit Phoebe quae modo plena fuit.
(Sic) Venerum feritas saepe fit aura levis. 

As well as the original Latin, this site offered a couple of stabs at a translation ...

“Nothing can last forever: the sun, when its course is complete, hides itself behind the sea; the moon, once full, now wanes.
Thus, love’s wounds shall heal, and fresh breezes will blow once more”

“Nothing can last for all time:
When the Sun has shone brightly it returns to Ocean;
The Moon wanes, which recently was full.
Even so the fierceness of Venus often becomes a puff of wind”

But why a dose of Latin instead of a dose of reptiles?

Well we all know our Molesworth ...

‘What is the use of latin sir?’ And the master replied,
‘er well er quite simple molesworth. latin is er classics you kno and classics are – well they are er – they are the studies of the ancient peoples... er latin gives you not only the history of Rome but er (hapy inspiration) its culture, it er tells you about interesting men like J Caesar, hannibal, livy, Romulus remus and er lars porsena of clusium.’

And speaking of hapy inspiration, yesterday came our hole in the bucket man, while the pond was distracted by handing out its awards to the reptiles for best holiday reading. 

There was Polonius prattling on about the way Switzerland helped the Nazis, and completely forgetting to mention all the American businesses that helped the Nazis, and there was the pond ignoring our Henry ...

 

 

What a jolly jape amongst chums in the year of the lockdown to talk of open societies ... and yet a little later, yesterday afternoon in fact, the pond went to check up on our Henry, only to discover that in one short day he had slipped from top of the digital page to nowheresville. 

 

He'd been disappeared, the reptiles had cancelled him, and in his place came this dreck, this dross, this wreckage ...

 

 

 

 Way too many """ pieces in that motley crew.

So carpe vinum, because natura non constristatur (of course the pond cheated),  let fresh breezes blow, or if you will, a puff of Henry bloviating wind ...

 

 

 

 

Of course, fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt, and women too,  and how wise it is to talk of ancient history while the spectacle of the United States crashing and burning is perhaps just a tad too Hindenburg for our Henry ...

 

 

 

Yes, it's better to blather on about the way things were than head into the bush where the wild things lurk ...

 

Indeed, indeed, just look at the way that China has suffered in economic terms in the last year ... as opposed to the astonishing success of the United States in just about everything ...

 

 

Of course one of the problems of being insufferably smug, and astonishingly silly is a reminder that nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit ... so carry on hole in the bucket man ... (and the pond will have a large serve of Brexit Boris if you don't mind just to make your avoidance technique complete) ...

 

Indeed, indeed ... and how wise of our Henry not to mention the dog in the room ...

De omnibus dubitandum, someone undoubtedly once said, and the pond can't help but think that our Henry really does want others to share in his delusions ...

 

Barba tenus sapientes, but then aquila non capit muscas, and in any case nullum magnum ingenium sine mixture dementia fuit, and let us not forget lupus non timet canem latrantem, and just in case the pond has forgotten a few clichés, here's a few more ...