Girls scream,
Boys shout;
Dogs bark,
School’s out.
Walking with some old school friends earlier this week, it seemed appropriate that we reminisced about how those school holidays of our youth seemed to last for ever. This year’s Spring and early Summer have felt like the endless Summers of our youth. Bike rides up onto the moors, over which we now walked, would last from dawn to dusk – school rucksacks repurposed for adventure; squashed peanut butter sandwiches wrapped in foil; a battered banana turning brown; warm orange squash which tasted more like the plastic bottle in which it was contained than the fresh zing of citrus. Andy had even brought some midget gems sold by the quarter in a black and white striped paper bag, Mark I hadn’t seen for 45 years – entire lives lived to catch-up on, Steve, Andrew and Neil all dipping in and out of our usual walking conversations – family, politics and how much better the world would be if we were in charge!
Walking and the feelings of wellbeing it provides is a simple process which pays a dividend to the mind much greater than the investment required. Just like reading, these easy and pure activities are much under appreciated. If we were in charge, those public information films on the TV would make a comeback – ‘Boots & Books – inexpensive exercise for the Body & Mind’.
School’s Out by William Henry Davies
Girls scream,
Boys shout;
Dogs bark,
School’s out.
Cats run,
Horses shy;
Into trees
Birds fly.
Babes wake
Open-eyed;
If they can,
Tramps hide.
Old man,
Hobble home;
Merry mites,
Welcome.
In fiction this week, there’s a couple of books that pay homage to great classics: The Compound is a thrilling blend of Lord of the Flies with TV’s Love Island, while Orlanda by Jacqueline Harpman reimagines Virginia Woolf’s compelling novel with a sensual twist. If you liked Conclave, you might be drawn to the dark underbelly of Vatican City in These Wicked Devices, and David Nicholl’s latest is now in paperback for summer. In non-fiction, flowers are sharing a spotlight in a dabble of poetry and a bee-friendly gardening book; Theodoros Papakostas takes us back to Ancient Greece, and we are served some delicious essays about the food world. For little ones, the brilliant Bettany Hughes explores Ancient Rome, and Fergal the dragon overcomes anxiety.
As always, if there’s anything you need, just pop by or reply to this email!
From Sophie
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