BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN

The best laid plans of mice and men is a well known saying and it derived from lines in 'To a mouse' by the great Robert Burns.  The modern English translation of the poem runs thus; 'The best laid schemes of mice and men, go often askew; and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!'

I sit writing this peace acutely aware that I should be elsewhere and taking notes for a future blog. I am near trapped at home in the Midlands but I should be in Southend. I have been anticipating and planning my trip across England to attend the Nameless Arte (Symposium) 2019 but unfortunately, disappointingly. I am here at home writing this blog.

The rain here in my part of England and elsewhere, has been noticeably heavy. For the best part of two weeks we have had rain and just when we think it has moved on, the rain has returned. The result has been disruption and this disruption has taken the country off guard. There has been traffic chaos, trains cancelled, houses and businesses have been flooded and tragically, there has been at least one drowning.

Compared to such serious issues my inability to safely travel is an inconvenience. I am warm and dry. I have food, power, running water and sanitation. Some directly affected by the flooding have none of these things. I am safe at home. I can if necessary travel west. I can if absolutely necessary travel east. I cannot travel north or south. Therein lies the problem.

I have kept a close watch upon the localised conditions and the nearby river has broken its banks. The floodplain often floods, the clue is the name but this year is different. The  reach of the water has extended beyond the normal confines of the that plain. The farmland looks like a boating lake or more ironically perhaps, the Thames estuary outside of Southend-on-Sea.

Travelling safely and in a timely manner from Derbyshire to Essex, is not possible this weekend. I am disappointed. I am disappointed that I will miss an event of great significance. I am disappointed that I will not be meeting friends at the event, as planned. There are too few of these events today. Events of quality that explore the esoteric traditions within the context of the Traditional Craft and the Occult, while shielded from the insidious influences of the New Age.

I sincerely hope that the Nameless Arte (Symposium) 2019 is as good if not better, than the event I myself attended in 2017. I sincerely hope that I will attend the next event in 2020 and I sincerely hope that nature does not conspire against me once again. More importantly, I sincerely hope that all who did travel arrived safely and that the flooding will soon abate, putting an end to the suffering of those caught by the rising waters. FFF.