“Extreme” Reading, Cartoonised with Gemini
I may be biased, but I am increasingly convinced that the most apt turns of phrase come from those who are yet to have the strictures of grammar and punctuation drilled into them. The most recent case in point was a conversation with L the Elder in which – walking back from school – she offered up her reflection on that day. Had lotsssss of fun, played with my ten thousand hundred friends being the verdict. I had to bite my inner uppity Nigerian Dad lip, given her muddling of the numbers, a pause which afforded me the opportunity to recognise just how far she had come. At the back end of the year, when her much delayed start at reception came around, she had been the singular black kid in class. Most days she would come home crying, as no one wants to play with me. The kids were being kids of course. To go from that to here in three short months is much appreciated. Props to the school, and L’s resilience!
The weather in our corner of the country has held up reasonably well, which has meant lots of walking to/from school and also at work. At first it was a few loops around our on-campus “lake” with a few work mates but as our inboxes have swelled and work has pulled our schedules out of sync I have begun venturing out into the wilds of Ashford. Nothing much to report there, except for perhaps the large number of stately homes which lie empty in various stages of renovation. “For sale” signs dot the landscape. It was, and still is, a great commuter town with fantastic connections into London. Might one read the “for sale signs” as the leading edge of return to work mandates?
Podcasts are my companion on these walks, thanks to which I have discovered quite a few to add to my perennial favourites. I am certainly getting educated, one hopes that the benefits extend to a shrinking waistline at some stage in the near future. Dadbod be damned!
