WAGS 2023 04 26: The Perfect Poronkusena, or Have You Come Far ?

 

You have got to hand it to Rod.. Just a week after a blog informing us that a poronkusena is the Finnish measurement indicating the distance that a reindeer can travel without peeing – approximately 7.3 kms, lo and behold, he conjures up a walk of precisely that distance.

For those of you who were not paying attention to last week´s blog, we would elaborate that a poronkusena is a unit of measurement (possibly obsolete) used by the Sami people to describe the distance a reindeer can travel without having to stop to urinate. It is a compound of two Finnish root words:  'poron' meaning 'reindeer's' and‎ 'kusema' meaning ´pee´d by´. That the reindeer stop to micturate ( which is a more polite word than pee is) is important in this context because they cannot pass urine when on the move. So they have to stand still to do so, and that then enables the Sami to exclaim "Ah! we have travelled exactly7.3 kms" which must be very useful indeed when out and about in the trackless wastes of Lapland. And as reindeer travel in large herds, it must be quite some sight when they all come to a communal halt and do what has to be done en masse. Rod did not bring a reindeer with him, so we have not been able to independently verify any of this, nor it would not help in any way were he to bring a horse along because horses can do it, and everything else too, while on the move, although it is best practice for a rider to stand up in the saddle when his mount is so engaged in discharge because it puts less strain on the animal´s kidneys. 

There is obviously scope for future blogs to host discussions about other ancient or exotic measurements of distance, for example the parasang much talked about by Xenophon in his Anabasis, and the Lang Scot´s Mile mentioned by Robert Burns in his Tam O´ Shanter poem. Do let the Blogger know if you have a favourite distance measurement you would like to have examined.

But for today we must press on, so here is Rod´s full report.

"The usual modest and tardy contribution!!

A warm morning it was....well 30° plus in April is indeed unusually so....when JohnH, Dorothy and Dennis, Yves, Antje, Paul, Myriam and Rod gathered at the Café Paradis in Salgados for a not particularly original beach and flatlands walk. So unoriginal indeed that we managed to cover exactly the same distance, almost to the metre indeed, as the previous occasion when we had covered the same route. 

The Starters:  JohnH, Paul, Dorothy, Antje, Rod, Myriam, Yves and Dennis.

Birdlife in the lagoon was relatively subdued in the heat so we hastened to the boardwalk, now fairly comprehensively repaired, and along to the beach. 

Some men had opened a subterranean tunnel for some reason from which sounds came

and there was a man in the tunnel making the sounds.

Yves indulged in some nature photography.

The tide was only just on the ebb so the beach was not exactly devoid of humanity.

Humanity was indeed in evidence when we were approached by a very  honest fella who enquired if the camera he was holding was ours. Unaware he had dropped it, John only eventually had to admit that it was indeed his.....how nearly we for ever lost the official records of the walk!

Lucky to get it back

(Note to Hazel. You really should not let him out on his own, not with that expensive gear.)

Antje then found some sea urchins rolling in the tide.

"Here´s one I made earlier"

And so on to the Alcantarilha stream....well it no longer flows into the sea, indeed it doesn't actually flow at all; accumulating in a distinctly unpleasant looking lagoon.

The map below shows how it used to cut through the beach

No progress has been made in completing the boardwalk bridge  so we were obliged to  cross...over, under and in  various undignified poses. 

Some took the aerial route.

 

Some tried the Fosbury Flop method

Others risked their heads on the low beams

while Rod adopted the penitential approach, on hands and knees, and thankful to make it.

That done the rest of the walk was uneventful. Yves took portraits and floral pictures,

Paul and Myriam inspected a property with development potential

the temperature soared and the sheep took shelter in the shade

 and we were soon back in the Café Paradis.

The Track and The Statistics

Paul who had been wearing rather odd walking shoes

changed  into some thing even lighter for lunch

He will give you all the details.

At lunch we were joined by Chris and enjoyed the Café´s usual Franco menu."

There was coq au vin

although Myriam was a trifle suspicious of it

Paul took some extra vin with his coq

There were salads

and generous desserts, all for a reasonable price.

Many thanks to Dorothy, Myriam and Yves for great pictures.

No closing music this week, but another session with the Long Johns.