Tuesday, 12 May 2015

The famous Grassy Knoll

Life is strange, and can sometimes be coincidental. 

I find that certain words frequently raise their heads, which leads me to think of events, places or people by association. I once worked with a fellow in an office environment. He was in the habit of talking aloud to himself while doing whatever his computer-based work entailed. I can vividly remember one instance. The word 'pool'.

"pool.... pool.... cool at the pool... James, would you believe that woman who was on the phone to me just now? I asked about her holiday, and the best she could come up with was to say that they were mostly drunk on brandy, lying in the sun on the lawn by the pool the whole time! pool...would you have..."  The conversation would end as abruptly as it started.

"Cool by the pool... cool... pool...  cool by the pool... by the pool, hey?...by, hey,by..." 

Damn. The continuation of the earlier monologue took off once more, interrupting my train of thought for the umpteenth time that morning.

Back to the present:  This morning I had one such what-I'd-like-to-call 'headraiser.' It'd been raining since just after dark last night. Showers on and off type of rain. I had just checked the rain-gauge and emptied the 65mm of overnight rain. Then, a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder... shower! shower! I barely managed to make it to the kitchen door to avoid the unprecedented deluge. It was truly a veritable 'torrent

There. One of those headraisers. Torrent... Torrent... Torrey... Torrey Canyon.

Question 1: How many readers know who /what /where  is/was Torrey Canyon? (Clue=1967.  See footnote #1 at the end of this post for the answer.)
Just to complete the story:   I rushed outside over the grass to the veggie garden five to ten minutes later to inspect the rain-gauge once more. That particular 'Torrey' had delivered 6mm in those few minutes.

As I returned over the grass, for some unknown reason another headraiser:  Grass... grassy.... Grassy Knoll!

Question 2: With which 20th Century statesman would you associate 'grassy knoll'? (Clue=1963.See footnote #2 at the end of this post for the answer.)






































Page Down


*1 - Answer:   An Oil Tanker:  The SS Torrey Canyon was an LR2 Suezmax Class oil tanker with a cargo capacity for 120,000 tons of crude oil. She was shipwrecked off the western coast of Cornwall, England in March 1967, causing an environmental disaster.

*2 - Answer: John F Kennedy --- Dealey Plaza is bounded on the south, east, and north sides by tall buildings. One of those buildings is the former Texas School Book Depository building, from which, both the Warren Commission House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded Lee Harvey Oswald  fired a rifle that killed President Kennedy. There is also a grassy knoll on the northwest side of the plaza. At the plaza's west perimeter is a triple underpass beneath a railroad bridge, under which the motorcade raced after the shots were fired.

No comments:

Post a Comment