Mar 2, 2025
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Speedy
take two // @tvintedspvrk
⸻ chalk powder dust blown away by a waft of his voice , meandering over towards the center of gym mats laid strategically around the training area . he’d come down earlier than most mornings to get ahead of the influx of olympians who likely had the same idea . fresh off the pole vault , he’d pondered over towards the spectator area . gentle hazel hues look on in appreciation . broad lats rising and falling with deep breaths , palms sat atop blonde locks in an effort to pull in more air . ❝ y’know , you technically aren’t a spectator . . . so , ❞ gesture made inwards to waiting mats , grin plastered on his face . ❝ don’t appreciate from too far . i thought you wanted to get some practice in ? ❞
paris.
Por sorte, Matías teve muito trabalho para ocupar sua mente. Como era de se esperar, muita coisa estava fora do lugar por conta de sua ausência mais longa, mas estava com o humor tão bom que não se estressou com absolutamente nada. O ajudante, um garoto de dezenove anos de nome Bobby, chegou a perguntar que bênção tinha recebido para estar tão bem humorado, ao que Mat devolveu arremessando uma sela no seu colo, mandando que a lavasse, mas tinha o tempo todo um sorrisinho preso no rosto. O dia estava tão favorável que Rachel nem ficou chateada com a foto ignorada da noite anterior, apenas expressou o quão ansiosa estava para voltar; sobre isso Matías conseguiu se forçar a não pensar. A manhã rendeu. A esposa do tio não deu as caras. Quando Santiago chegou com o almoço de todo mundo, Mat comeu bem, a garganta não doía mais. A única coisa teria modificado, se pudesse, era sua aparência quando o início da tarde entrou. Estava sujo, bagunçado, os cabelos atrapalhados pelo suor do trabalho. Mas Mat disse a si mesmo que não era nada que Ellie nunca tenha visto antes e se preparou para ir ao encontro dela mesmo assim. Seu serviço para o dia estava bem adiantado, conseguiu até perder um tempo conversando com alguns colegas. Às duas da tarde, porém, desapareceu estábulo adentro e preparou dois de seus cavalos favoritos para partir. Precisou de vinte minutos para chegar até o rancho silencioso dos Grant, montado em um cavalo e puxando a égua que Ellie montaria ao seu lado. Matías identificou a silhueta da ex-namorada de longe e sorriu com um dos olhos fechados para o sol que pegava de frente, aproximando-se a passo calmo. Quando chegou perto o suficiente, desmontou. "Hey! Are we late?"
Donald Currie Caskie was born on May 22nd 1902 at Bowmore, Islay, his exploits during WWII earned him the nickname “The Tartan Pimpernel"
The son of a crofter he was educated at Bowmore School and then Dunoon Grammar School Donald then graduated from the University of Edinburgh and from New College in 1928, with a higher degree, a doctorate, in Divinity. Further studies – and some travels – followed, he was licensed to preach and ordained to the ministry of the Church of Scotland in 1932 and became a minister, his first Kirk was at Gretna before being sent to the Scots Kirk in Paris in 1938.
A small congregation of the Church of Scotland had existed in the French capital since 1858, acquiring in 1885 the building in the Rue Bayard formerly used by the American Episcopal Church. The Kirk has a connection to another famous Scot the athlete and missionary, Eric Liddell preached there in 1924. Wishing to observe the Sabbath, he had refused to run that day.
Dr. Caskie did not hesitate to attack from his pulpit the Nazi regime in Germany, where Adolf Hitler had attained supreme power as Chancellor in January 1933. As Hitler’s policies and plans became ever more aggressive and extreme – with talk of racial hatred and Germany’s supposed right to extend its borders at the expense of its neighbours, Lebensraum – Caskie became more outspoken in his condemnation.
As the prospect of war loomed Donald Caskie felt a duty to remain in France, rendering such help as he could. Ultimately he reached Marseilles – Marseille. Here the Scottish minister opened the British Seamen’s Mission, ostensibly a simple place of shelter and spiritual support, but from the start Caskie had always intended to give assistance of a more tangible and substantial kind.
Those seeking help usually arrived under cover of darkness – cold, hungry, often wounded, for the Mission was to become the last link in a chain of ‘safe houses’, refuges, for escaping Allied servicemen that stretched all the way to Dunkirk in the north. When a man was well enough, and after Donald had said a prayer for him, he would be guided across the Pyrenees to neutral Spain and ultimately to Gibraltar, from where he might return to Britain to rejoin the forces.
Donald Caskie went on to help orchestrate the safe return of around 2,000 Allied soldiers and airmen trapped in occupied France by establishing a network of safe houses and escape routes – despite facing the constant threat of capture and execution.
At Marseilles, Caskie was under constant surveillance from the Vichy police; everywhere he went, he felt he was followed. The house itself was frequently raided. He had to be ultra-careful – ‘canny’ is the Scots word. “My only armour was the grace of God,” he wrote. His first duty towards each new arrival was to hide him, at least until such time as ‘papers’ of some sort could be obtained.
Dr. Donald Caskie’s dangerous and clandestine work at Marseilles had continued for almost a year before he was suddenly arrested.
Convicted on scant evidence of helping Allied servicemen, Donald received only a suspended sentence. Banished from Marseilles, he was directed to Grenoble where his high academic qualifications allowed him to take up a post in the department of English at the university. Grenoble was the ‘intellectual centre’ of opposition to the Nazis and many students were deeply committed to the Resistance. He did not cease to be active in his wider mission of rescue. The Scottish minister knew many people – many who might be able to assist – and seemed to have a talent for making new friends; he has been described as a consummate ‘networker’, 50 years before this modern term was coined.
The name of the last man whom Dr. Caskie helped to rescue while at Grenoble – Mr. William Nash, a fellow Scot from Whitburn, West Lothian. It was April 1943. In just a few days Donald Caskie was to find himself again under arrest, but this time his situation would be altogether more serious. Returning to his accommodation one evening, he switched on the light to find himself confronted by five men of the Nazi Gestapo. Seized at gunpoint, he was arrested, interrogated and sentenced to death at a Nazi show trial but survived when a German pastor intervened.
Caskie was transferred to the Caserne St. Denis, a regular prisoner-of-war camp rather than a high-security prison, where the men eagerly awaited the end of hostilities. Donald’s joy at the liberation of Paris was ecstatic. “My happiness can only be imagined,” he wrote, “it cannot be described.”
Dr. Donald Caskie returned to Scotland in 1960. His last charge was at Monkton, close to Prestwick Airport, from which he retired in 1968 due to failing health. He died on 27th December 1983. Donald had not married, and is interred with his parents in the graveyard of Kilarrow Church at Bowmore, Islay.
A true heroic Scottish figure, he is remembered with plaques in Marseille and Paris as seen in the pics.
If you want to know more about this little known Scottish war hero there is a ten minute video from The People's History Show on YouTube here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MzSrdo1ZVA&t=2s
White-red-white Belarus's flag. Found in Paris.
from /r/vexillology Top comment: Flag of the Belarusian democratic movement
Venus de MiloAphrodite, known as Venus de Milo, marble sculpture, 2nd century BCE; in the Louvre, Paris.