Get your own
 diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

Friday, Jul. 27, 2007 - 2:26 p.m.

Jinky & the Crocodile Hunter
****************************

After I let him out this morning
he was gone maybe 20 minutes
when the phone rang..
an elderly man called to say
" if my ginger cat was missing
he could be found at his place "
I pressed him to find out where that was
and I received an vahue reply
" that's right-
by the new house construction site
your kitten seems to
adore the hole in the ground there ..
I live on the next street over"
and then he hung up

I went over the the vicinity of
a construction site
in case the sounds of power tools
had attracted Jinky
but no crew
so no Jinky
I went on with my day

At 8 pm
the same gentleman phoned again
and said
" Your ginger kitten has returned!
and he is inside out house now
you can stop by and fetch him "
I begged a house number
and did in the end receive one
the gentleman was decent and polite
but somewhat deaf

I went over and there was Jinky
looking out the window at me
from inside the house
I knocked
and when the door opened
I recognosed the gentleman
as someone I had
randomly chatted with in the park
on occasion in fine weather
and O had found him very interesting

"Lovely cat, very friendly"
refering to Jinky swimming at his ankles
I was ushered inside
to meet his blind wife
and just sit for a brief time
and vist them
as they sat before a wide screen tv
blaring so loud I had to lean over
to hear them speak

Their home was decorated pretty much
like every first generation British home
I had ever visited
- pictures of the Queen
-various castles
-floral china plates on the wall
- brass knick knack horse things
-and towels draped over the furniture
.... to keep it nice..

I learned he was 89 and his wife was 91.
They had lived all over the world
and been married for 63 years
............. "to each other"
he pointed out
and was very proud
to show off the certificate of merit
the Queen herself
had signed and sent to them
for their long hard service
to the British Empire


He had joined the British army in 1937
and had worked in the medical corps
during the war with" Those Germans"
and had been stationed
in almost 20 countries
over the next 35 years..
Africa, the Middle East. the Carribean.
S America, British Columbia, Singapore, India
- and raised a British family
in a very British way
in the outbacks of the Sudan,
in Kenya. Rhodesia and Ethiopoa
and almost every hot place in the British Empire
that had a problem with
malaria mosquitos, deadly snakes or leprosy

He specialised in biting insects,
deadly vermin,
contagious disease
and poisonous or dangerous
living things in general

On occassion
he would shoot enormous crocodiles
eating native women
washing clothes at the river
but his main job
was spraying mosquito swamps
and vacinating the backwater army staff
& natives who worked for the British'
he looked in on British Missionaries
living alone as the sole whiteman
in their corner of darkest Africa
who had been in the Jungle since the 19th C
"Like Dr Livinstone I asked?
Those blokes worked harder
than Livingstone ever did
They were highly respected as doctors
faith awakeners
and advisors to the Islamic warlords
They knew ther Koran by heart
as well as the King James Bible
" same God up there " he teased

I learned he could speak five languages
Arabic, Bengali, Urdu old Persian and German..
- the latter handy in case
those pesty Krauts showed up again

He was with the Army Corps in the 50s and 60s
who oversaw and guarded
the massive hydro elecrtric installations
that were being constructed in Africa
-mega projects that have only been online
for a few years now'
they took 25 years to construct
and thats full time work..
I had no idea that the Africa
of the 21st Century
had been under construction
since the 1950s..
that that entire continent
was earmarked for upgrade
two generations ago..

All the while
Jinky played with the mans thin fingers
as he dangled them over his chair
he didn't seem to mind at all
that a curiousred kitten
was biting him
as he talked
a man who had shot crocodiles
was being nibbled by a little red kitten

His blind wife said she loved moving all over
the world every two years-
it was glorious to experience the world
as history was being made'

Former colonies going it alone on the world stage
entire public works rising from the jungle
bridges, dams, quays and railroads
started from scratch
she had met some wonderful people
as well as some "stinkers"
her grown up children were well adjusted
and easy in the company of
people of every stripe

They found rural England too boring
when they retired
so they emmigrated at age 70
and came to Canada
here they live' in a small house
feed the squirrels
and welcomed Jinky
when he walked into their house
and into their lives today

We were welcomed back to visit
anytime we wanted
I am sure Jinky will be back
and I will go fetch him
and learn more about that era
from people who were actually there
and active in the building of
the modern world

 

previous - next

 

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!