dailyprompt – Page 7 – John Vincent

Magic Mornings

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite time of day?

Meat Loaf sang: “And wherever you are and wherever you go. There’s always gonna be some light.” That moment of light, when the sun returns from its overnight meanderings. It’s not so much the first moments of sunrise but the first moment that its catches my eyes.

I might be hiding behind the pillows trying to pretend it’s still dark. As the clock ticks there’s a moment when the pretence must end. Yes, I like a bright summer sunrise morning. Not a cloud covered sky but those sharp rays of sunshine. Laser like shining through the bedroom curtains.

The possibility of a new day is an unwritten book. It’s a time of day that shifts like sand. It could be half five, it could be six. It might be seven. Time flexes as the days go by.

Each day, as if a light bulb switches on, I’m awake. Senses alive. Greeting the new day. Emerging as if all time past existed only as a dream (fine – that is an exaggeration).

Morning persons, like me, are the nemesis of the late-night hawks. They prefer the dying embers of the day as if to wish the day never to pass. Me, I’m happy to meet the dark. Prospect of tomorrow is the best promise.

Origins and Meanings

Daily writing prompt

Where did your name come from?

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Doesn’t take a lot of research to answer that question when it comes to my first name. Two key people in the New Testament share my name. John the Baptist and John the Apostle. Because of those biblical references the name John has a version in a wide range of languages. In its origins, it has something to do with being gracious. Although, I can’t say that’s a particular characteristic on mine (as a gracious remark).

Having done a little family history it’s a name that reoccurs down the generations. John was a hugely popular English first name for a long time. Today, it’s well down the rank and order of popular names. Which I think is slightly strange. John is easy to spell. It’s simple to pronounce and has some agreeable variations like: Ivan, Yan, Hans, Sean, Ian, Evan and Jack.

What makes my toes curl is being called Jon or Johnathan or Johnny. Apologies to those known as such but these watering downs of my first name just make me cringe.

What I’ve never properly figured out is the reversal of my name. It’s happened to me more than a few times when checking into hotels. It certainly seems to happen in France. It’s probably because my surname is most often a first name in specific cultures. So, I will arrive at a hotel front desk. Give my name. Then the hotel receptionist will look at me in a quizzical manner. Hum. So, you are not Mr Johns. No, I’m Mr Vincent. Johns can be a version of Jones or Johnson. It’s not my surname. It’s a whole different kettle of fish.

If only my parents had known this and named me Vincent Vincent. That would have squashed any chance of naming in the wrong order. There must be folk who run around with the same first name as surname. Bet they live in a hazy mist of confusion when trying to explain.

Back to Christianity. Yes, Vincent is a Saints name[1]. The far south westerly corner of Portugal is called: Cabo de São Vicente or Cape St. Vincent in English. Martyrdom does get a priest a place name. In his case, it was an especially gruesome martyrdom at the hands of the Romans.

My Vincents extends back to the corners of the English country of Dorset. Where precisely it’s hard to say but there were some of those with that name residing around the Isle of Purbeck[2]. Which is not an isle, by the way. It’s a peninsula. Corfe Castle, and the village that adjoins it goes back to the time of William the Conqueror. That’s about 1000 years of history. Maybe that explains me being short and blue eyed. Who knows?

[1] https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-vincent-martyr/

[2] https://www.visit-dorset.com/explore/areas-to-visit/purbeck/

A constrained list

Daily writing prompt

What are your top ten favorite movies?

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I’ve done this before. At least for movies with an aviation theme. My measure of a “good” movie is one that doesn’t dull with repeated viewing. Yes, of course, let’s not take that to absurd limits. I’m more talking about, say once a year, if it comes up on the small screen. I’m going to sit through it and enjoy it.

A top ten selection doesn’t mean there are only ten. There’s a lot of movies that fit into the category of being a pleasant way to spend time on a long flight. Even on a tiny seat back screen the hours pass quickly if the entertainment is really entertaining.

In no particular order, and straight off the top of my head. No great analysis or soul searching.

Apollo 13[1]. An intense drama based on true events that grip my imagination. Especially for those who watched events unfold on a black and white TV. Just think. If you or I had been in the room at ground control – what would we have thought and felt?

Flight of the Phoenix (The original)[2]. That twist about the guy being a model aircraft maker and the backwards and forwards of the emotions of the stranded passengers and crew. Faith is rewarded only at the last moment.

Ice Cold in Alex[3]. Another movie where the protagonists go on a testing journey, and you go with them all the way. It’s engaging and immersive and makes you ask – would I have lost hope? To top that it has a beautiful ending.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind[4]. I know the movie is marmite. For me, loved it from day one. It now looks dated or at least the special effects. Its quality is that its so simple yet so vast.

The Shining[5]. So brilliant in its menace. Everything drags the viewer into the insanity of isolation and a malevolent force that destroys a person. Yet, from the first moment of the film all the signpost point to where its going.

Galaxy Quest[6]. For pure unadulterated entertainment value. It’s a parody. It’s not full of belly laughs. What it has is a wonderful off-beat comic story that is so well done by such good people.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show[7]. Iconic and full of endlessly repeatable lines, it’s a movie that makes me smile time and time again. Didn’t we pass a castle back there?

A Matter of Life and Death[8]. Captivating as we all root for David Niven in his fight to stay on Earth. Soring imaginings wrapped-up in an irresistible warmth.

Passport to Pimlico[9]. A movie with surprising undertones in our post-Brexit situation. Excelling in humour but inscribed with an acute observation of human behaviour.

The Ipcress File[10]. Masterful casualness of Caine as he wrestles with the sinister unknown. Sensemaking of threads of information slowly feed to the viewer make this a powerful movie.

My list has comedy, adventure, horror and thrillers. If I write a list tomorrow maybe half the names would change. Ten is such a limiting number.

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/

[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059183/

[3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053935/

[4] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075860/

[5] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/

[6] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177789/

[7] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073629/

[8] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/

[9] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041737/

[10] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059319/

Keep it simple

Daily writing prompt

Create an emergency preparedness plan.

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Plans are great. Professionally, I spent years and years making plans of all different shapes and sizes. Some collected dust on shelves, some turned out to be wholly inadequate and others did the trick, at least in saving time, money and potential harm. The often quoted saying “no plan survives contact with the enemy” has a ring of truth to it but it’s a million times worse not to have a plan when faced situations that are likely to be harmful.

It seems obvious to say it. Making plans for other people and making plans for oneself are not the same. Training staff and having a detailed plan of what do in a flight emergency is essential. As a humble passenger, sitting in an assigned seat, I expect an aircraft to safely go where it’s supposed to go. So, am I properly prepared for the one in a million event?

If I can, I always book an aisle seat. Having people climb over you to get to the loo isn’t such a big deal. It’s the elbows of the 20-stone man in the middle seat that’s more annoying.

Listen to the safety briefing. Read the safety card. Count the rows of seat to the nearest exit. Yes, I do. I try not to be that– oh, I’ve heard or seen that a hundred times before type of bore.

Fortunately, I’ve never had to work through my private emergency plan. Closest I’ve come was a flight landing on one engine at Düsseldorf Airport. The heart raced a little when looking out of the aircraft window. I could see airport firefighting vehicles chasing us down the runway.

What?

What’s wrong with what? And you can’t say how I feel about “what”. In fact, what is one of my favorite words. It belongs to a family of six. All six are words I’d be happy to hear more people using. There’re words that people with inquiring minds use a lot and with good reason.

Forgive Mr Kipling for saying this only of men. He was a man of his times. Written as it is, his six serving men have served me well. What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

I Keep Six Honest Serving Men – The Kipling Society

Daily writing prompt

What is a word you feel that too many people use?

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Listen

Daily writing prompt

What brings you peace?

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The mind can be a rambling and untamed animal that runs riot with anxieties and imagined troubles. Is it possible to have too much imagination? Inventing situations, dramatic and comedic, and letting them loose by the handful. All this spent energy bearing scant connection to reality. A blizzard like information overload in our digital age.

Peace is sending that cerebral chaos away. Floating in a harmonious relation with the real world that’s going on around, here and now. Being in the moment, as some people say. How to get there on a busy day? Easy. Take time out in a pleasant space. Just close your eyes and listen. Listen hard. Different bird songs unjumble themselves. Distant conversations, although mumbles, seem distinct. Wind through the leaves becomes audible. After a couple of minutes of concentration, past untamed hours vanish into lost memories.

Public servants

That is the public servants who uphold the best of the public service ethos. Part of that is to work for the public good without expecting great admiration or fame. In the UK, the Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) are a good start. Often mentioned when things go wrong, they are a distillation of what’s expected or, at least, hoped for when encountering a public servant.

I have known people who have demonstrated, in their every day working lives the best of these principles, and more. To balance this finding, I have known people for whom any of these seven would have been a struggle.

Prefect people, if such a term can be used, are not common place. Even they have off days, when they stray from the path that they have set themselves.

Having done a fair number of audits of organisations over the years, the message to take is that great public service is often not what’s done when someone is looking, it’s what’s done when no one is looking.

Daily writing prompt

What profession do you admire most and why?