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Tuesday 3rd 36-42F, 2-6C, heavy overcast with light winds so far. Half an inch of snow lying in the garden but little elsewhere. Should we be paranoid? Saw about 100 small birds, mostly Goldfinches, flying between alder trees on the marsh. Spitting with rain and forecast wet and very windy for the rest of the day. Doesn't look promising for a ride at all. It wasn't and I spent most of the day in the shed.
A knitted field? Are we living in The Matrix?
Wednesday 4th 38F, 3C, clear skies, northwesterly to northerly winds with the temperature and winds falling steadily all day. The gusts picked up to 45mph overnight as another storm passed over. I could hear it moaning steadily at the westerly windows at bed time. The wind is supposed to fall from 35mph gusts this morning.
Denmark now faces the threat of serious coastal flooding. With sea levels up to 6' above normal being forecast. This is a "once in a century" situation thanks to the sea piling up due to an unfortunate wind change. With nowhere for the water to escape through the narrow straits [Bælts] around the Danish landmasses. Most of Fyn's coast has a red warning [very dangerous] except for the north coast where the wind will still be gusting to storm force. Wintry showers are also possible today.Dull view of the scruffy, winter woods.
I had a long walk up to the woods today. Even including a loop along the once familiar tracks. The winter had knocked down some of the weeds which almost block progress. My journey started with blinding sunshine as I walked along the road to my exit. A cold wind required I fasten my jacket for the climb. The track was particularly wet and muddy today so that I was watching my footfalls rather intently. Too late, I became aware of two huge White tailed eagles lifting off the field to my right. They flew together directly away from me over the corner of the forest and out of sight over the hill with slow wing beats. I watched them all the while they remained in sight through my binoculars. Sadly there was no chance to capture them with my camera.
The wind seemed to increase through my hour and half outing. I did not hear the frightening 'barking' from the deer today, as I did on my last visit. My hundred yard shadow almost denied me any images of the cliff face of the woods. As the brilliant sunshine lit up the scarf of bleached corn which encircled its base. With highly variable cloud the light was constantly changing as the sun slowly crawled into the low sky.
Where's my scarf?
In Danish [Twilight Zone] news: 20 sympathetic local shopkeepers chipped in to pay the 3500DKK [~£350] fine when a camera shop owner published security camera pictures of a shoplifter on Facebook. The police told the shopkeeper that they were too busy to attend to shoplifting. Dugh? The shopkeeper has imagined the publication [and subsequent publicity] would force the shoplifters into taking up another career. Many Danish supermarkets and shops have displays of goods for sale on racks and pallets outside their premises. How do the human rights lawyers and absent police protect these goods from blatant theft?
On the same theme: The Odense council cannot put up security cameras in the local ghettos without the local gangs destroying or removing them. We must now all pray fervently to Odin that nobody films the culprits actually wrecking the cameras. Or a huge fine is likely for the perpetrator of this heinous crime! [i.e.Taking pictures of criminal activity in a public space.]
Can you imagine YouTube without videos of criminals and criminal behaviour from around the globe? Not from crime-free Denmark, tak skal du have! No dash cams here! No cycling rights activist vloggers! No private security cameras pointing outside the house! Not even through a window by accident!
Looking the other way.
As in: It's behind you!
Say the perp is carrying a weapon and uses it on the shopkeeper to resist arrest? Not unheard of by your typical sociopathic criminal. Now how many police-persons must attend and investigate a murder scene? Or stand about doing absolutely nothing for hours on end but using their physical presence to reassure the terrified and confused public? Give me Internet video justice any time over police failure to attend any alleged crime.
Shopkeepers in Denmark have to be very careful not to point their cameras at their own car parks or anywhere outside their own premises. Just in case they record a crime. So, if a shopkeeper or their staff hold an alleged criminal with no hope of the police attending, then what? Assume the perp murders the entire staff of a supermarket to resist arrest just outside the shop? You can't arrest a shoplifter inside the shop because no crime has yet been committed.
The concealed goods could still be whipped out at the checkout if the perp suspects they have been spotted. Or they dump the lot and say they have changed their mind about purchasing the goods. Or have forgotten to bring their credit card. So, the mass murderer [and alleged thief] is now innocent without video proof of any crime occurring because the police were too busy to attend. What if there are no witnesses to the subsequent bloodbath? It seems the shop cannot protect its own staff in precisely the outdoor situation where simple concealment of goods actually turns into a prosecutable crime.Who do the police and security services go to when they have a major terrorism event? Yep. You've guessed it. They do the rounds of all the supermarkets and shopkeepers with security cameras just in case they [inadvertently] captured anything useful to the investigation. Only in crime-free Denmark! 😇
The online map showing areas likely to be inundated by the coastal high waters is down due to overloading of the website. Dogh? With the wind roaring in the trees all day I decided caution was the better part of valour and the trike stayed at home. More sad, cycling news from Denmark. A 46-year old mountain biker was found drowned in a pond after failing to return home.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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