Stories and Musings

By Sean A O’Reilly

This is a collection of short narratives of some of my life’s encounters with people, both socially and in sports events. Life cannot exist without food and drink and so naturally, a few stories on bread, cheese and the amber nectar get an airing as well as my favorite pub. Work and play feature greatly in our lives and I have included some of my contributions, hopefully positive ones, from my life’s travails.

For most people their pets are very important to their well being so our now deceased, but amazing Silly Billy the cat, gets his own story. The reader can select a story in the order that catchers their interest. Enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Aug 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728391229

Sean A O’Reilly

Born in Dublin, Ireland, I spent my early years on a farm with my grandmother and took on responsibilities way beyond my age. I emigrated to London just in time to join the social and cultural changes that were sweeping away post war austerity. I gained a Masters Degree in Nuclear Physics at London University and was President of the University Debating Society. Education, politics and sport were, and still are, my main interests. I have taught in state schools and in some of the national leading independent schools and held senior management positions. Sport including football, squash and tennis has kept me busy but underpinning these activities has been my marathon running for over 35 years in 30 countries for various charities. Fundamental to my life has been my wider family. My Norwegian wife’s extended family and contacts as a foreign languages teacher opened up social contact and discourse with the wider European and Global families of nations. I have written articles on several science topics including Nuclear Power Safety and Solar Energy as well as a Memoir and Marathon Adventures books. My Books: 1. Life’s Lessons Learnt From Irish Bohareens to London streets to the Temples of Learning 2. Marathon Adventures across Europe and Beyond.

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© 2019 Sean A O’Reilly. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/06/2019

ISBN: 978-1-7283-9121-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-9120-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-9122-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

1. What’s Not to Like About Pepper

2. Brown Bread Rolls –Say No to White Bread

3. Cheese and Biscuits – Please

4. A Walk to my Local Pub

ACROSS BORDERS

1. Your Passport Please

2. Do Small Nations have a Purpose or a Future?

3. The Germans are Coming – FC Koln Invades the Arsenal

TWO WHEELS BETTER THAN ONE

1. On Yer Bikes – 2 Wheels Better than 4

2. Marathon Bike Ride

3. Springs - All Sorts

LIFE’S SURPRISES

1. Silly Billy the Cat – Enters our Lives

2. Making a Difference

3. A Chance Encounter

ON THE RUN

1. Santiago Chile Marathon

2. Berlin Marathon 1990

3. The Path to Rome

4. The Long Par 5

5. The Comeback London Marathon, April 2014 – Put on Your Ipods Please - All Plugged in and Ready for the Off.

about:

Our Cat, brown bread and real ale, people and nations, biking and marathon running and other matters.

Introduction

T his is a collection of short narratives of some of my life’s encounters with people both socially and in sports events. Life cannot exist without food and drink and so naturally, a few stories on bread, cheese and the amber nectar get an airing. Work and play feature greatly in our lives and I have included some of my contributions, hopefully positive ones, from my life’s travails.

Finally for many people the family pet animal is very important to their well being so our now deceased but amazing Billy the cat gets his own story.

Feel free to select a story in any order that catches the eye and I hope it relates maybe to some of the reader’s own experiences.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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What’s Not to Like

About Pepper

N ot a day passes without hearing about a research project claiming that another food product can cause cancer. Often a few years later another research project claims the same food product actually is good for you. A glass of wine or two a day was once deemed beneficial, now it is claimed all alcohol, whatever the amount, is bad for you. Eggs, once bad, are now good for you. Even the greatest enemy of the health police – saturated fat – is now deemed in some cases to be beneficial. The latest war waged by the health police is against sugar.

There is one product that has so far escaped the researchers’ carcinogenic claims, namely, my beloved pepper. The only reference on the internet that I found claimed that pepper might be carcinogenic if injected in large quantities into rats. Yes, I know mice and rats have a hard time in the researchers’ torture labs. In fact, pepper’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial benefits may help to stop the development of cancer rather than cause it.

I just love freshly ground black pepper on big fleshy tomatoes, mashed turnips, pasta and on homemade squash and tomato soups. Sadly, pepper can do nothing for those horrible tasteless Dutch glasshouse grown tomatoes. Pepper, the king of spices in medieval times, is heralded for its therapeutic and medicinal value. It is claimed to aid digestion and to stimulate the spleen to produce new blood cells and to be an effective anti viral agent. Pepper oil is sometimes used by physiotherapists in massage to encourage suppleness after strenuous exercise or to ease aching muscles.

In my quest for the perfect pepper mill, I must have gone through a score of useless pepper mills over the years. I realise that the black pepper corn may be a tough nut to crack, but there is nothing more irritating than having to use a useless pepper mill in a restaurant or at home. I think I may have at last found the holy grail of pepper mills - an electric driven mill. The only problem is that it uses 6 AAA batteries, but has the advantage that I need to use it regularly to get the value for my investment in the batteries – pepper heaven as it were.

Pepper has made it into children’s fairytales in the stories of the Norwegian folk musician and author Alf Proysen. Mrs Pepperpot has the magic ability to shrink to the size of a pepper pot but has to keep her teaspoon, which is normal size. The pepper pot sized woman is able to survive her adventures as she can speak the languages of the small animal world. The Japanese produced a successful animation cartoon series of Mrs Pepperpot’s adventures. Towards the end of the series it was revealed that Mr Pepperpot found out about his wife’s secret – oh Dear!

Who would have thought that pepper could be of more use as a defence weapon than a handgun and with far less legal implications in its deployment. Regulations on carrying pepper spray aerosols vary from country to country. Some countries actively encourage the use of regulated pepper spray, especially by women and people in danger of being attacked by wild animals. Most national police forces carry a pepper spray device. I still would like to try using one on my wife’s excellent Squash and Tomato soups – could be a solution to my pepper grinder problem – but I do not think my wife should be around when I experiment.

Some years ago my then school secretary gave me a recipe that used a lot of pepper where a hammer rather than a grinder was the selected pepper corn smasher. It was a simple and easy to prepare recipe: pasta - preferable tagliartelle, crème fraiche, salmon trimmings and pepper. Mix the freshly strained cooked tagliarelle and crème fraiche into a preheated pan and stir well. Then fine cut and stir in the salmon trimmings and now for the good bit. Put a small handful of black pepper corns into a cloth bag and then crush them with a good blow of the hammer. Mix and stir in the coarsely crushed pepper into the tagliatelle mix and serve immediately whilst still hot. Serve with a quality lager beer. Hey presto — delicious.

My fixation with freshly ground black pepper to date has not allowed me to experiment with white pepper – made from the ripe pepper seed. Equally, I have not tried green pepper made from the unripe fruit. That is something to look forward to in the future. There is also pink pepper, not related to real pepper which grows on trees in California and other places which is popular in Germany. Incidentally a rich man in Germany is often called a ‘pfeffer sack’ which goes back to medieval times when a lot of money was made by some merchants dealing in spices.

Pass the pepper please.

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Brown Bread Rolls –Say

No to White Bread

Not rolling off the shelves; not even on the shelves

I just love a fresh crusty wholemeal or granary brown bread roll. The problem is that they are increasingly hard to come by, at least in the UK. Recently in my local large TESCO