Well leaving this to one side for a second the story about the Great Bed of Ware is that it’ll be returning to Ware in 2012 after a 140 year absence. The Great Bed’s currently kept in the Victoria & Albert musuem in Lodnon but will be loaned to Ware museum  Our novel mentions the Great Bed of Ware [page number to follow].  Mmmm still bemused. Here’s the wiki link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bed_of_Ware

The unique and majestic creature has been filmed professionally for the very first time.  The only albino whale of its kind in the world, Migaloo was filmed close to Green Island off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.  Reef Magic Cruise’s owner Tim North said “It was a breathtaking sight that made your hair stand up on the back of your neck.” The idea to film Migaloo was to help show how precious he is and to help protect him. We whole heartedly agree.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QisofzOVwK8

Amid a record heatwave Moscow is experiencing a blanket of thick smog caused by the worst wildfires in modern history. As the fires burn in peat bogs and forests dense plumes of smoke some 3,000km long can be seen from space. As temperatures remain above 100F the haze and smoke are causing serious health problems. People have resorted to wearing masks to protect themselves. The fires continue to burn across central Russia. The level of C02 in Moscow is more than three times higher than normal.  Red Square is at the heart of Moscow. 

Red is associated with alarm - is this Nature’s way of telling us to STOP!  Well, in our novel (pages 135-137) Julia describes at length her experience under the day of the long and lingering fog. It introduced her to a young Malachi - the messenger - for the very first time. Is this the prelude to climate chaos on an ever increasing scale? Remember too that the Samoyed is native to Russia.

It’s also worth linking this to the curious halo cloud seen over Moscow a few months ago. http://watch.thehaymakerssurvey.com/?s=moscow 

What’s also remarkable is that on page 137 Malachi warns us twice… “I spy with my little eye something beginning with M”  Check out the book or the online version if you doubt us.

We’re tickled by a curious coincidence. On the same day a rare solar storm occured.

The event was witnessed by astronomers worldwide. A huge flare burst out above a sunspot the size of the Earth.  The explosion caused a coronal mass ejection aimed directly at this planet. Experts said the CME would hit the Earth around 3 and 4 August sparking spectacular displays of the aurora.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_4HVKrzsbs

Dr Lucie Green of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory has been following the flare-ups. She said, “What wonderful fireworks the Sun has been producing”.  Maybe Mother Nature is celebrating the launch of the online serialisation of our second novel?

Well at least Paul the Octopus has been awarded a replica version of the football world cup after he successfully predicted the winners of eight matches - seven involving Germany and the final itself.   He does so by choosing between two clear plastic boxes each with the flag of competing nations. The odds of completing this remarkable feat were less than 0.5%!  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10603065.stm 

The psychic cephalopod was born in Weymouth, Dorset England but now entertains the world from the Sea Life centre in Oberhausen, Germany.  Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage and home to the biggest shopping mall in Germany! The octupus’ name derives from the title of a poem by the German children’s writer Boy Lornsen Der Tintenfisch Paul Oktopus. 

We’re intriqued by Paul’s exploits as this extract from page 19 of our novel says:

‘Q7: Have you ever dreamed of being a champion? As a fan of football or soccer as its known in America, Ben did. He used the dream of lifting the world cup to admiring crowd. Hey, here’s the thing, if Ben - no if all of us - work together and turn around global warming  or at least its impact we’ll win that cup. Look around you - the World cup is everywhere and its ours for the taking!”

Is it also coincidence that Britain and the United States have experienced a heatwave throughout the period of the tournament? Paul also happens to share the same name as Sir Paul McCartney the lead singer of The Beatles. Now that the Octupus has retired some are calling for him to be released into the sea. We featured ‘The Octupus’ Garden’ in our posting of 18 May. Time for a reprise…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CvE7mIq8YQ&feature=related

First - a sperm whale has been sighted off the coast of Devon. Its an unlikely visitor to the UK as it usually found in the Atlantic Ocean. Its the first time a sperm whale has been seen in the area since records began back in 1840.

Whilst a rare massive superpod of some 1,000 short-beak common dolphins has been sighted by thrilled wildelife watchers off the Isle of Skye near Scotland.  Dolphins are among the most intelligent animals on Earth and sometimes come together to protect humans from danger.

It follows the sighting in mid June of a vulture perched on the roof of a Bridgend house in South Wales. The giant bird of prey is a native of Africa or America and may well have escaped from a falconery. The bird was caught on camera by local photographer Mr Keenor who said “It was a bit of shock but the bird seemed quite at home even though it maybe thousands of miles away from its usual haunts.”

Let’s explore these examples further. The appearance of a sperm whale could be symbolic of the challenge of managing human population growth (page 117) and there’s mention in our novel about Moby Dick and the obsessive revenge mentality of Captain Aheb with a sperm whale who bit of his leg.  In Moby Dick the author uses symbolism and metaphor to explore a number of complex themes - just like our novel.  The book initially received mixed reviews - much like The Haymakers Survey but is now widely acclaimed as one of the greatest novels in English literature.

The sight of the dolphins off Skye is equally intriquing. In Charles Lamb’s journal he speculates that Captain Richard Lewin feared lost at sea may yet have survived through the help of dolphins! Skye as a location is interesting - given the Rose cloud seen in the sky by Charles as a sign to cherish and love nature. Skye is also an anagram of KEYS and the hidden message in our tale evolves around a key.

It’s not our business to scare monger but the presence of a vulture is ominous. Page 64 of our novel recalls how Julia witnessed the sight of a bird of prey - an implied vulture - hovering overhead when she meets ‘Mother Nature’ in a dream.  A dream in which she is warned that we hold the future of our planet in our hands.

One of the local observers at the Solid Rock Church suggested that this is a sign from God that we (humanity) are doing something wrong.  Rocks play a significant part in our tale and the statue was at the east side of interstate 75.  Well our question 75 is ‘Have you ever put on a show?’ and at the heart of our survey is faith for we believe that a divine force is behind it. Follow your heart. Expand your mind. Explore this watch against the online novel. Time to act to preserve our natural world is fast running out. The time for hesitation’s through…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG2NfVgfXV0 

The amazing spectacle was caught on camera - see video below.  The most favoured explanation is that the frogs merely left a nearby lake in search of food. Others have speculated that they were feeling in anticipation of an earthquake. Our take is perhaps more insightful. 

First our novel includes (page 171) the fable of the frog that stayed in the jar of water as it gradually warmed until he boiled alive - it’s an anology for humans being reluctant to change behaviour until crisis occurs, which from an ecological perspective will be far too late. 

Second in his journal Charles Lamb describes the gathering of ‘The Haymakers’ as a grand Salon (page 279) a coming together of great minds to ponder the consequences of population growth and the industrial revolution on planet Earth.  Fascinating since the original name for Thessalonika was Salonika.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10167636.stm

Third the monuments of ThesSALONika are a recognised UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site was chosen in 1988 for cultural reasons the criteria for which can include “to represent a masterpiece in human creative genius.”  Maybe the message is deeper - another message from Mother Nature about preserving our natural heritage - planet Earth and its great and glorious diversity.  As we say ‘Its not that easy being green’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpiIWMWWVco&feature=related

The album was first released in 1972 when the band were living as tax exiles - a period in the band’s history captured in a new documentary ‘Stones in Exile’.

Our readers will be very familiar with the ‘Tumbling Dice’ used by the magician in our story (pages 154 and 314). Dice designed illustrate three things… 1) show that it’s possible to predict future events linked to Nature’s demise - which our story appears to do. 2) highlight the odds stacked against the miraculous diversity of life on planet Earth and 3) and show how we’re gambling with our future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sh-fMOecSE

Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones get a specific mention (page 128) in the White Horse public house discussion where our anti-hero Bill Darvill ridicules Sarah over her faith in power of the deep magic in The Haymakers Survey.

If we think about it the oil slick is a consequence of the world’s love affair with oil as a power source. The incident reminds us that this love affair carries risks beyond carbon emissions and arguably war to secure access to the resource. Curious then that a person named Mr HAYWARD is the Chief Executive at BP and that the incident took place in the Gulf of Mexico (which raises the X Factor poser once more).  

Teams of volunteers are working to help save local wildlife. Laudible but odd if we think about it as we (humanity) destroy nature bit by bit, sometimes unwittingly, then try to save her! This is the underpinning message in the Secret Inheritance. We need a new dawn!

It’s chaos really. Time for the Beatles Octopus’ Garden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgPqmRNjoTE&feature=related