OXFORD appeared strangely free from crocodiles on Tuesday – the young, fleshy kind, speaking in tongues, and not the scaly, carnivorous variety. Was the season for these temporary migrants at an end?

“No, it’s because of the weather,” volunteered a retired hospital worker, out shopping with his wife.

“Somehow foreign kids know how to dodge the rain.”

I chose not to question his theory after seeing his good lady’s eyes turn skywards. Perhaps she was often subjected to similar random theories.

However, I did suggest there appeared to be more than the usual number of grandparents out with their young descendants, the latter having an enjoyable time free from mum and dad’s strict control. Perhaps the absence of ‘crocodiles’ made these seen more prominent.

The man’s eyes welled with tears and he seemed unable to speak. I apologised. Clearly I’d said the wrong thing.

“It’s not your fault,” his wife assured me. “Our daughter, her husband and our two granddaughters went to live in New Zealand six months ago.”

He had been used to seeing the girls most days. Now there was a massive hole in his life. I knew how he felt. My grandsons don’t live abroad, but far enough away to make daily physical contact difficult. Telephones and computers can do only so much.

* OCCASIONALLY Cornmarket Street buskers can stop crowds in their tracks – like my friend Josephine, a blossoming operatic diva, and the teenage jazz band that encouraged dozens to dance in the street.

On the face of it clarinettist Odell, and somewhat older electric guitarist David, from Birmingham, were nothing out of the ordinary, until...

David strummed a few chords that sounded familiar to those of us over the 65 mark and also stirred something in the breasts of many much younger. Could it be The House of the Rising Sun, the song that in 1964 made The Animals a household name with their recording of this 1928 song?

It was, and Odell and David’s version not only brought the crowd to a halt but earned loud and lengthy applause – as well as a few extra quid in their music case. The rain was insignificant. Thank you, gentlemen.

* “IF they do, they can forget it. It’s never been that convenient for me, especially when I have lots of shopping. I’ll take my chances and use the car parks. Fear of a big parking charge will make me think twice about spending more time and money in the shops.”

Thus spake Jeannie, mother of three teenagers from Witney, when the re-introduction of parking charges at park-and-ride sites was debated on the back seat of the spanking-new 3.30pm bus to Pear Tree.

Double, or even treble, whammy springs to mind.