No.6

There's an interesting story behind this 1916 photo of my father's family.

Back Row: John 1900-87, my father Robert 1893-1982, Charlotte (Charlie) 1896-1987, George 1892-1976, and Jean 1898-1960

Front Row: Elizabeth (Lizzie) 1905-1996, Grandma (Charlotte) 1865-1942, Walter 1910-68, Grandpa (John) 1868-1954 and Isobel (Isa) 1900-89

John and Isa were twins - the only twins that I know of in the wider family.

Have you noticed that my father and Charlie have their pinkies linked?

One of my cousins told me that Grandma in those early days was always very keen to have photographs of the family taken. Like many others at that time, the Jaaps were quite secretive about their comings and goings. To keep their visit to the photographer's studio a secret, she devised this plan. Her family, dressed in their Sunday best, would leave the house in ones and twos at different times and go by different streets. The return journey would be carried out in a similar way, and no-one would know what was going on!

The occasion was their 25th wedding anniversary.

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THE LITTLE BOY AND THE OLD MAN

Shel Silverstein 1930-99

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."

Said the old man, "I do that too."

The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."

I do that too," laughed the little old man.

Said the little boy, "I often cry."

The old man nodded, "So do I."

But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems

Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."

And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.

I know what you mean," said the little old man.

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Loch Faskally, Pitlochry, Scotland

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Some years ago, when our eldest daughter Margaret was in Borneo, she visited the famous Sepilok Reserve for orangutans. Founded in 1964, the Centre’s purpose then was to rehabilitate orphan orangutans, and today there’s a population of 60-80 animals.

During their tour of the reserve, Margaret and her husband came across a cage containing just one occupant - a very old, blind orangutan.

Visitors can feed the animals with fruit, and, having attracted the old fellow’s attention, Margaret gave him a large papaya. You can imagine her surprise when he took the offering, broke it in half and handed one half back to her!

When he had finished eating his portion, Margaret then passed her half back to him. Again he took it, halved it and gave half back. And this happened one more time!

She says she found the incident very moving and I can quite understand that. If only humans were all as generous!!!

Margaret always takes a huge number of photographs on her travels, but this is one Google found for me.

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Did you hear about the old lady who took her doctor's advice to join a fitness class? All her friends at the Old People's Lunch Club were anxious to know how she got on and as soon as she appeared they crowded round to hear her report. "Well,"she said, "I joined the aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. By the time I got my leotards on, the class was over."

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This is an 1886 photograph of some of the inhabitants of St Kilda outside their cottages.

St Kilda lies 40 miles from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. There had been a small population there for hundreds of years, but since the middle of the 19th century there were never more than 100 people living there. The story of the evacuation of the inhabitants in 1930 is well-known, but I was too young then to know anything about it.

Today St Kilda is owned by the National Trust and became a World Heritage Site in 1986. The island attracts a good number of bird-watchers for it has become famous as a breeding ground for seabirds. Other visitors to the island are volunteers who are helping to restore some of the ruined houses. There’s also a small military base there.

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"It's Never Too Late to Fall in Love"
(song from the The Boy Friend - Book, Music and Lyrics by Sandy Wilson)

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