Wilf walks, Digby sits.

Wilf trotted quietly beside me on the morning walk - he really is the perfect dog and treats each excursion with enthusiasm and joy . His little brother Digby is a worry. He's alert and playful but is holding back more and more when we set off for a walk. This morning he sat by the gate and looked at us as we went on ahead. No amount of encouragement would get him to move.I hope it's the heat that's causing his lack of enthusiasm for exercise rather than ( as I expect ) his bad hip. It's clear that Wilf is losing some weight but Digby,despite his diet,seems to be keeping his middle age spread which isn't good for mobility.

Many years ago I used to work for a 'think tank' in Menlo Park - at the time the firm spent much of its time analysing developments behind what was then the 'iron curtain'. An old friend from those days reminded me last night of a true story that I'd long ago forgotten. In mid-October 1978 Stanislaw Kania the Polish Politburo member in charge of propaganda telephoned the then head of the Polish government,Edward Gierek, with the news that a former professor at the Catholic University of Lublin and Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, had unexpectedly been elected pope. 'Holy Mother of God!' was the response of the First Secretary of Poland's ruling Communist party.