Yesterday I didn’t leave the house. Well, unless opening the door to pick up the milk delivery counts. The wind and rain kept up all day so I stayed in and worked on a translation we have in hand. Its probably the most sedentary day I’ve had in a long time.
I spotted the heron fishing, or at any rate standing hopefully, by the millpond.
I also watched him take off.
On my return, I showered, put a load of washing in the machine, organised a late breakfast and set off to catch a bus to the library in Uppermill. I was only just in time for my bus but for once there was a driver with a heart who opened the door for me at the crossroads - strictly against the company rules. She told me she was exactly on time -“We are more punctual at the weekend that during the week! - but by my calculation she was at least a minute early.
In Uppermill, after returning my library books, I chatted with the Big Issue seller, who told me that yesterday the centre of Uppermill was under water, but not seriously so. My plan had been to walk from there to Tesco in Greenfield, but as I chatted I noticed the little bus that goes all around the villages was just arriving at the stop. I ran, or rather, scuttled as it is quite difficult to run elegantly with a rucksack containing library books and books to go to the second book stall within Tesco. This is one of the be benefits of a small local Tesco store.
Home again, I planned to do some probably much needed housework but then my daughter, accompanied by her smallest daughter and biggest son, arrived for a cup of tea and a chat. They had deposited her partner and the small boy at a birthday party (his year group must all have September or October birthdays, he has been to so many parties lately) and had decided to call in and see us rather than drive home and then back again to collect the party people. So we had a cup of tea and a snack. The small girl did some craft work. The big boy, now an 18 year old with a temporary job, sought advice on savings accounts - “I’m earning so much money!” - lucky boy! In between times we talked about the parlous state of the world and how our colonialism, and France’s and Spain’s and Belgium’s and so on, had led to the mess we are in.
It was late afternoon before I got around to sweeping the kitchen floor. Mopping may have to wait until tomorrow.
Thinking back to my visit to the library, I have seen a number of cartoon recently where librarians explain their philosophy of letting or even encouraging children to select books beyond their official reading age. It’s a way of expanding their minds. A couple of days ago I came across an article about book fairs, this time on the USA but I remember my children going to book fairs here.
Here’s the beginning of the article:
“The largest US publisher of books for children has a new collection that sounds wonderful. It’s called “Share every story, celebrate every voice”.
But the backstory isn’t so wonderful.
School librarians around the country can opt out of that Scholastic Books collection of 64 “diverse” books for their popular book fairs.
They can choose to hit what one librarian has called “the bigot button” in order to stay out of the line of fire of rightwing parents and politicians. Presumably to pre-emptively placate the anti-woke mobs, the opt-out effectively removes the curated collection of “diverse” books from the offerings.
One example is this title: Justice Ketanji, by Denise Lewis Patrick, which tells the story of how Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to serve as a US supreme court justice. The brief biography details how Jackson “refused to let the naysayers stop her from rising to the top”.”
Hmm! Some censorship going on there. Here’s a link to the whole article. Let the children read!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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