Omar's Diary to 13th April 2017

Man Servant is quite open about how disappointed he is that the country voted to leave the EU in June 2016.  I must admit that I am as well.  As the world becomes a more complex place and national borders are eroded by digital communications and free trade surely the best way forward for any country these days is to join as many alliances as possible regardless of the  distance they have travelled on the path to perfection for which there is no end.  Borders should be open, not only for goods, services and money but also for people to migrate to where believe they can live and reach their full potential away from fear, conflict and hunger.  

In my own small way having been homeless once I know what it is like to not have the security of knowing there will be another meal and a warm place to sleep when the day ends.

The path this country has taken is irreversible which Man Servant has regrettably accepted. That that does not mean he has given up trying to make some changes in his local community.  As John Kennedy said ‘Anyone can make a difference, everyone should try’.

Within five hundred metres of Omar Towers is a piece of open land called ‘The Mount’ which is reputed to be an ancient burial site.  It is mostly grass left over from the days it formed part of a dairy farm whose land was used to house our manorial home.  It is well beyond the limit of my territory as to me it is a different country where things are done differently.  My territory extends to about fifty metres of my back door or servants’ entrance.  I understand that from the top of The Mount one can see into the town of Ringwood and as far west as the Purbeck Hills in Dorset. 

Man Servant recalled a research document he read over a year ago in which there was a write up about how local authorities in Britain were beginning to not cut the grass on areas of open community land.  This is being done to allow the natural meadow grasses and wild flowers to grow that provide pollination stations for transit insects and especially bees whose survival is under threat.  His idea, which he sent to the council, was to leave areas of The Mount about the size of tennis courts uncut to allow these wild grasses and flowers to grow.

As with the referendum result Man Servant was most disappointed when he received a response from the council.  Yes, it was a good idea and something they are doing in other parts of the borough but it was not something they thought suitable for The Mount.  The reasons they gave were basically that it was used as an area for walking canines and for children to play on.  It further explained that the long grass would cover up any dips in the ground and if children ran through these areas they risked falling and injuring themselves or worse.  The ‘worse’ being that some canine owners allow their canines to foul on the land including the areas of long grass that children would fall into this unpleasant vestige left by offenders.  At least us felines of any breed bury the evidence of these small matters if we do not have the luxury of en suite.

He will now have to find something else that needs to be changed for the better. It might even be about how canines are allowed to mess up open land meant for the local people to enjoy.

There has been a new member of the servant species arrive at irregular intervals.  He arrives early in the morning, which is before I am ready for breakfast, in sports kit carrying a bag.  I am not sure what the activity is that he engages the Man and Lady Servant in but I am sure that it is some form of punishment.  Every time this new visitor leaves whoever he has been with is heaving for breath and pouring perspiration. It was so distressing during one session to see Man Servant almost collapsing that whenever this new visitor arrives I either go into the estate or retire to my bedroom until he has left.   Both of my servants must have done something very seriously wrong to be treated like this.  I think also they have to pay a fine for whatever they did wrong as they hand money over to this new visitor.  It all seems very odd and I do not wish to be involved in any way. For argument’s sake this new visitor will be referred to as the ‘Punishment Servant’.

I am very worried about Punishment Servant as I did over hear him mention this morning that he will be reviewing the diet of the household in about two months’ time.  I know I a carry a little bit of what I refer to as ‘relaxed muscle’ but I most sincerely hope that Punishment Servant does not interfere with my Kibble and Dreamies.  It would just be too much to bear.

Goodness knows what the neighbours must think of all these comings and goings at the front door.  The net curtains of the manor across the way must be worn out by all their inquisitive twitchings.