WHERE DID YOU SAY THE HA-HA WAS?

As you might expect, in these times I rely on social media to keep me connected. So I've seen several pictures of hanukkah candles, turkeys (november, mostly), other people's children, pro-mask articles and memes, and baked goods (pumpkin pie, challah, miscellaneous appetizing pastries). As well as pipe smokers and their world in one of my favourite Facebook groups.

As you would expect, photos of pipes. Pipes being lit. The stuffing material for pipes, briars in readiness for the lighting. Beverages (that might be appropriate during those moments). Elderly gentlemen in more or less comfy circumstances preparing to set fire to something, in the process of setting fire, or after they have successfully finished doing so.
Often there are tea pots, and bottles of single malt Scotch.
Autumnal landscapes, bleak and foreboding.
Fields with drifting mists and fogs.
Dockside machinery.


"Bear fat, mixed with ashes and hay, spread on the head and left on can increase hair growth."

As quoted from Hildegard of Bingen, in that group.


It makes me feel young. Many of the other members are older than I am, and have impressive facial hair of the silver to white variety. Some have furrows, liver spots, and serious baldness.
All of which fits in nicely with the foggy fields, rainy docks and harbours, depressing manifestations of weather, and whisky bottles.

A huge number live out where there are fields, water, trees, and wild animals. The places that are filled with green stuff, roaming wildlife, crocodiles, and vicious farmers.


As you would expect. Mature men often abjure cities.


I'm probably somewhat out of place there. Salt and pepper, a neatly trimmed beard, no heavy outdoor garb, I rarely wear a hat, and have no landscapes.

Also, no dog. Many of them have dogs.



A ha-ha ("saut de loup") is a territorial barrier formed by a trench, often with shored up sides or an inset wall. Half wall, half ditch. It prevents the cattle from invading your lawn, or your neighbor's small children. It is usually invisible and does not interfere with the view.




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