Talking of pub lunches, yesterday Stense and I paid one of our occasional visits to our favourite second-hand bookshop in Llangollen, followed by lunch at a nearby pub. The food was excellent, and delightfully light in the salad department.
Now, as you might already appreciate, I'm not one for religious mumbo-jumbo and all that crap, but half way through my omlette and chips, the strangest thing happened: I experienced a holy vision!
Until now, I have poured scorn on people who claim to have seen the face of someone else on some floorboards, but yesterday my scepticism was rent asunder like a temple curtain: I saw the Virgin Mary eating a vegetarian lasagne!
It must have been the Guinness. It took me almost two seconds to realise my mistake.
A freak alignment had taken place: Stense had inadvertently positioned herself in such a way that a brass plate on the wall behind her appeared to form a halo around her head. She looked for all the world like one of those totally cool religious icons you get in some of the more ostentatious sects of the Christian religion (St Herman be praised!).
I absolutely insisted Stense let me take a photograph for posterity. Compare and contrast:
I'll bet this is how Lourdes got started. This could give a major boost to the Llangollen tourist industry.
why do these images of Christ always look like Robert Powell? This was a victorian interpretation. Surely, he would have looked more than a young Omar Shariff!
I can see the headlines....'vision of divine koala in Welsh pub'