Moving On

Post referendum, my incredulity has given way to mourning.
It is likely now that my children will leave this backward country in order to make a living.
And I wouldn't blame them.

But any day now I am going to rally and begin once more to blog about domestic trivia.
As if our world had not been shattered.

Diamond

I kinda missed the Queen’s birthday.

Which is a shame, because she was kind enough to send a card to my parents.

They were celebrating their Diamond Wedding.

I drove down after work the day before. On the Diamond Day, I took them out to Trelissick National Trust  property and we watched house martins nesting in the eaves.  We had our lunch there in the mild Cornish air of the courtyard.

Mark and Helen invited us for a hearty roast dinner, and Mum and Dad enjoyed the company of their grandson, Dan, and his cockapoo dog, Scout. My kids phoned, wrote and texted their best wishes.

For me, the day might have seemed a little quiet, but Mum and Dad thought it was perfect.

If ever I am lucky enough to reach the day when I am in my eighties and have been married for sixty years, perhaps I shall feel the same.

IN

I have to say it.

I’m IN and so is my family.

IN isn’t perfect, but if you want to change things in our favour, IN is the place to be.

It’s not immigrants that are causing “shortages”, it’s austerity measures following the financial crisis.

I’m with David Cameron, Barack Obama, the Labour leadership, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Captains of Industry, not self-seeking Bullingdon Boris.

I want a future for my children.  And actually, I’m not done yet – I want a future for me.

Exorcise your racism, paranoia and xenophobia.

And if we do end up subsidising poorer European countries, it’s to make a better environment for all of us.  Acting as a larger community is in our own self interest.

Vote IN for the sake of your country – you have far more to gain than to lose.

A different kind of trip

Perran was staying with Carenza at Oxford for a couple of days and I drove over to catch them both for lunch.

Not only had I not seen the twins since Easter, I also wanted to remind myself of the amazing halcyon of sunshine and socialising that follows Finals.

Unfortunately there appears to be a fly in Carenza’s ointment.  I arrived just after she returned from hospital with a sprained ankle.

“How did it happen?”

“Well, I was just coming out after the History Dinner, and I was wearing heels, and I came down this step.”

“That step there?  It’s not very big is it?”

“No, but there was darkness and I tripped on it.”

“You tripped up on darkness?  Well all I can say is, I’m relieved to hear it had nothing at all to do with alcohol.”

 

School Trip

If you noticed a gap in my blogs it was for a reason.  I was one of four teachers accompanying 43 fourteen and fifteen year-old boys to Classical sites in Italy for 8 days. 

We came back a few days ago, but I have found it challenging enough to take my school classes and wash all my dirty clothes.  I’ve also spent a fair amount of time staring blankly into the middle distance.  

It is only now that I feel half human again.

The pupils, however, were very much themselves after a good night’s sleep. 

And  that, my friend, is the difference between being fourteen and fifty-three.

Although I did discover another difference – teenagers overwhelmingly have an eerie sixth sense for detecting free wi-fi , even on the beach.

As a parent, I have often helped to pack bags for my own children’s residential trips, but never seen the outcome at the other end. 

I can now say with certainty that “less is more”.  The less they take, the easier it is to keep track of, particularly when mingled promiscuously with the socks and sun cream of others on the floor of a shared room.

It reminded me of the story of my friend picking up her eleven-year old daughter after her first away trip.

“Mum, I’m afraid I had to put on dirty pants this morning.”

“That’s perfectly alright, love.”

“And I’m pretty sure they’re not my pants either.”