Haveachat with Les Shipp

by Les Shipp

they found under the seats. They used some of the fuel to heat up food they found on the plane. During the night as they huddled under the wing of the plane they heard a terrible noise. As they crept out to investigate they saw a huge bear dragging off the body of the pilot. They realised then that they were not safe to stick around the crash site. As they set out at first light they realised they were not alone. The bear having eaten the pilot was not about to let two further meals get away and they could hear him grunting and crashing through the undergrowth. He could smell the infection that had set up in Mark’s wounded leg. As Mark dressed his wound and threw away the soiled dressing, the bear would find it and it would give him further incentive to track down his prey. The enquete remained aloof from his traveling companion but as they needed each other for survival they built up a tolerable working relationship.

  As they struggled through the ice and snow for several days with the fear of the bear always on their mind survival was their foremost thought. At night their only safety was the caves they found and were able with the fuel they carried, light a fire at the entrance. They could hear the bear shuffling about just outside the fire light.

  When they reached a valley with no defined track out Mark was completely exhausted and in a lot of pain from his wound. The enquete decided to settle him up against a large rock while he went off to check out what path to take. Mark had a very unsettled feeling as he could hear the bear very close and by this time the bear would be hungry again. He decided his only line of defence was to climb to the top of the rock, taking with him their last bottle of fuel. It was a wise move as no sooner had he reached the top when the bear came lumbering out of the undergrowth, heading straight for him. As the bear circled the rock to find a way up to his prize, Mark just had enough energy to light the remaining fuel and hurl it down over the bear, which exploded on impact. With dreadful screams and roars the bear was mortally wounded. The bear’s man hunt was over and all they had to do now was to find their way out of the wilderness.

  The enquete did find a track out of the valley and on the other side was a river with boats coming to look for them.

  TALKING TO STRANGERS.

  It is often the case that you feel free to talk to strangers more so than you do with someone close to you. If they are good listeners you can really give them an ear full without the burden of dealing with what you have talked about later. I read once that there are no strangers just friends you haven’t met yet. This is the most wonderful attitude as it seems to be right most of the time. If I hadn’t talked to a stranger years ago I might still be single. In a youth hostel in Salzburg Austria where I was staying, a young American girl had attached herself to me believing I was wealthy having travelled so far. She was very overpowering and that was one stranger I regretted talking to. Come evening, having listened to her prattle on all afternoon I announced I was off to a wine cellar down the road that had good music. Unfortunately she thought that was a great idea. As we were leaving the hostel there were two strangers coming in. Two Irish girls that looked good company so I invited them to join us. Safety in numbers. Off the four of us trouped to the wine cellar. The two Irish girls turned out to be top horse riders and were on their way back to Ireland after their visit to the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. That was my destination after I left Salzburg. We had a wonderful conversation about travel and horses. So much so the American girl got into a huff and I never saw her again. The two Irish girls and I had a wonderful evening listening to the music enjoying ourselves so much we didn’t notice how late it was. We were late getting back to the hostel and had to pay a fine to get in. Gallantly I paid up for the three of us.

  The next morning after exchanging addresses and a picnic breakfast out in the park we went our separate ways. They had invited me to look them up when I reached Ireland and ride one of their horses in a hunt. This I did four months later. Both the girls’ families were farmers in the country. I stayed with each family for a week and had some terrifying experiences jumping over rock walls that you couldn’t see over. I couldn’t let Australia down so jump them I did. I survived the experience and headed back to Dublin where one of the girls worked as a nurse in Saint Vincent’s hospital. By the end of the month we were engaged and I caught a boat back to England and a job at Harrods of Knightsbridge. Two months later we were married and fifty-six years later I am still talking to that stranger.

  IF MUSIC IS THE FOOD FOR LOVE, PLAY ON.

  My hope is that I shall live and love music forever even though I might not be able to hear it. The past music that has entered my mind I will fight to keep. It has carried me through many a dark day and lifted me out of any negative thoughts I had. I had a whole opera company going as I ploughed the fields for hours on end and the noise of the tractor provided the orchestra. There was no one to hear me so I was free to give myself up to the music and sing to my heart’s content.

  After leaving my rural work on station properties behind and moving to Tamworth, a large country town, I quickly became involved with the amateur musical society which was a very active group. At the time my work was not very exciting but with music I was able to transport myself into a different world.

  If I had thought too much about it I would have been very uncertain but I found once up on stage in front of a thousand people or more, when the music started, it would change this uninteresting person into whoever the music wanted him to be. Having the privilege of being part of seventeen musicals and many concerts, it is something I will hold dear forever.

  Now I have an extensive collection of cd’s, and it gives me great joy to have them playing in the background as I attend to my other loves, the garden, painting and writing. Music affects so many people, Africans beat themselves into a frenzy with drums and there are many more tribal ways of expressing their stories and culture.

  Recently there were two concerts in Holland with the conductor Andre Rieu. He is a master of putting love into music and bringing classical music to the masses. During his concerts, when particularly beautiful pieces were being played, the audience was seen with tears of joy running down their faces. The audience were as one with the music. I feel that the feeling of peace and happiness will stay with them for a long time to come.

  We are not the only ones affected by music. We found playing music in our horse stables helped to keep the horses in a calm frame of mind and when you rode them in a classical dressage test to music their performance was much superior to non-musical tests. Like us not all horses respond to music but it is a joy when they do. I am sure that not only do they perform better but we ride with much more skill also.

  So if music is the food of love, let it play on.

  ONE FINE DAY

  Angus McPherson came into the world on a cold sleety day in January and his birthplace was a dingy dark slum dwelling in Glasgow. His Ma and Pa were illiterate and were happy with their lot as they didn’t know any difference.

  So Angus was off to a shaky start, But Ma did her best with him and against all odds he survived that bitter winter, unlike several of the neighbouring infants who didn’t make it.

  As Angus grew into a stringy but tough lad the family’s income didn’t improve. Ma and Pa barely had enough for a pint down at the local on a Friday night. Angus had a lot of freedom to rome the grimy streets of Glasgow, and he became very nimble at picking pockets, and snitching something to eat whenever he got the chance.

  Because of his success he was greatly admired by the other urchins in the area. He was very generous with his peers and was often able to give them handouts. As he grew into a strapping youth his admirers were many and they formed a support group, around him, so he was able to become a master of his trade. This was his life and he intended to make the most of it.

  Unfortunately for Angus a new and much more efficient police sergeant took over his patch, and was soon on Angus’s case. He might have survived in his trade if he hadn’t gone one step too far. He broke into the town mayor’s home and relieved the lady
of the house of all her jewels. This was too much for Sargent McBride and he doubled his efforts to rid the area of this thief. It was just bad luck that Sargent McBride was in the backroom of the pawnbrokers when Angus came in to sell his prize. He wasn’t quick enough to escape and the Sargent quickly had him in handcuffs.

  He went before the magistrate who wasn’t very lenient with roughnecks and he possibly would have gone to the gallows if it hadn’t been for his youth. So he was sentenced to transportation to Australia and soon found himself on the high seas. His survival in the Glasgow slums helped him to live through the hell that was in the hold of that convict ship. During that miserable journey he did wonder what life in this new land would be for him, and he decided if he could live through these dark miserable months in the hold of the ship he would do his best to succeed in his new life.

  When the ship docked in Sydney harbour the convicts were let out of the ship’s hold and onto the dock. As Angus gazed in wonder at the brilliant sunshine and the clear air he thought to himself, I’m alright, this certainly is a fine day. Angus felt the warmth of the sun on his face and body and for the first time in his life