Panic please!

Clearly, to panic must obscure clear thinking and actions, and the job of malign governments with dark intentions is to apply tactics to scare the masses into strange behaviours to distract us from accepting the reality of their wicked plan to enslave us.

With this in mind, and with Daisy under half a tank, and plans to visit friends and fellow resisters, with the bus times not optimal for the Newcastle trip, and the village garage closed on a Sunday, along with the bus services, an early visit to top up the tank seemed like the best plan. There were four places to pump the fuel, three of which were in use, leaving one for Daisy to accept enough for several trips, which allayed any lingering anxiety. Of course, if travel is essential, panic may easily ensue, though pennies are dropping about the madness of it all.

Having spent Friday in deep philosophical dialogue with folks from the Tribe, yesterday's trip meant more work for Daisy and a passenger from Stanhope on board to join the demonstration. The weather was warm and sunny, the walk from Heaton to Leazes Park relaxed and steady, with chats with folks along the way, since this old blogger enjoys talking to strangers in towns as well as villages, which deepens the understanding of the way the humans behave and respond to kindness and an interest in their lives. This leads to many short stories ready to be told; too many for this post, but maybe one day ...

The fellow protesters were gathered round the bandstand in the park and were listening to speeches from those who aspired to be leaders, before soon heading off together, with our public servants, of whom there were many, ready to help us cross the roads safely. Armed with copies of The Light to distribute to willing walkers and bystanders, the march was enlivened by conversations with many humans including some already known from previous events, like Rachel and Alan from the Hexham Tribe, Lee a police officer from the Town Moor March, Ray and Jen, fellow distributors of The Light and others.

Thanks to common sense for once, the organisers from our side and the public servants had met to agree the route and tactics to be employed, which did not include fighting, since that achieves nothing positive in the end. Of course many marchers were angry due to the evil plans against which they were protesting, but clearly our public servants have a duty to protect their employers as well as us, who are there to oppose the wishes of the fascist government. Now, only following orders is a tricky defence for officers of the Law, as most know well, but pointing fingers at them is more likely to annoy them than persuade them to change sides before it's too late.

Laura, a charming police liaison officer, an Inspector no less, engaged in dialogue as we marched together down Grey Street, searching for common ground which was soon found, since in the end all human beings are basically kind, and those who are not, clearly have psychological reasons for their bad behaviour and may respond to kindness eventually! Ranty speeches by Baltic on the Gateshead side, rather undermined the peaceful nature of the demo, but that's would-be leaders for you, elected or not, their motives are not always clear, but it's often observed to be this need for attention human beings need to thrive. Needy or not, more folks were engaged in the crowd and on the return to Heaton up the Ouseburn, as we wandered back to find Daisy, sitting patiently waiting to drive us home to Stanhope safely, after a thoroughly nice day out in Toon. And no panic!

Time to stretch the legs as Sun thinks of rising in the East, ready for another warm day and a drive over the hills to Hexham again ... and The Tribe by the Bandstand in the Park.