Last week the rotten correspondent very kindly awarded me the Breaking Blogger award. Apologies for not mentioning this earlier but my mind – er, well entire body, brain and hormones – were rather taken up with other matters.
So a sincere thank you to Correspondent – this has boosted my morale greatly and cheered a very grey damp morning here in Cornwall. I will pass it on when I’ve got brain cells into thinking about such difficult subjects.
I told you we had friends for the night on Friday. I met John when I lived in Devon and he used to make rocking horses – very beautiful ones that sold all over the world. His wife, Annie, is a very talented painter, they’re both on their second marriages and, in their late fifties/early sixties, clearly devoted to each other.
John has an inquisitive intelligence, loves animals, children and adores boats, spending as much time as he can on the river Dart.
He took Himself for a day on the boat and they had a real Swallows and Amazons day – building fires, cooking food and meeting all the other people that live on the river. Himself said everywhere they went, John was welcomed with open arms; rightly, he has friends everywhere.
In the bottom of his boat he keeps a clutch of carrier bags. These are to pick up other people’s rubbish. Last Christmas (they aren’t religious) they took brandy and mince pies down to the Coastguards then went for a sail. He’s always on hand to help people, particularly the elderly, and said to my mum that she was to ring him, ‘any time of day or night, it doesn’t matter.’ And he means it.
On Friday we were talking about Life, as you do, and John said, ‘I think you should go your own way in life and help other people if you can.’
I can’t help thinking that politicians could learn a lot from such thoughtful values. What a simple premise for life, and how effective.
