Happy Bank Holiday
Writing to you from Sestri Levante a small town on the Italian Riviera. Around me people are celebrating ‘The Feast of the Assumption’ for many it’s a holiday which commemorates the Virgin Marys ascent into heaven. No one knows for sure what happened to Mary or the day she died but on the basis that she did die and Christians around the world believe quite rightly she went to heaven the day has been set and the ‘holiday’ over the years has thrived into a day where families get together give thanks not only for Jesus’s Mother but bless farms, orchards, gardens, family life and friendship which sounds to me romantic, spiritual and very beautiful unlike our August Bank holiday which was introduced in 1871 By Sir John Lubbock give Bank employees time to enjoy the cricket season! Although thinking about Bank Holidays I’ve enjoyed they do seem to involve meeting up with friends and family in parks, beaches, gardens, on rivers and even once trying to recreate school sports day which brought out the best and possibly worst in a group of normally sane passive adults. Sir John outside of giving us Bank Holidays was also a man who loved the natural world and one of his quotes resonated with me from when I first read it, he said:
“What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. … In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportsmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.”
Although l’m no geologist, botanist, farmer or sportsman I am a great observer and the premiss, if you think about it, is true of all of us. My domestic version goes like this; “I’ve washed up and tidied the kitchen” Me – no you haven’t I see the crockery’s still on the draining board not wiped and put away and you’re using that old get out when it comes to pots and pans, putting them in the sink to soake secretly having no intention of returning to scrub, wipe and put back in the cupboard.
Plagued by my hatred for litter, graffiti, weeds and debris its sometimes all I can see and definitely marred my trip to Pisa yesterday and this one will make you giggle. I travelled alone on my way here so had hours at Heathrow airport sitting around with my thoughts, for some reason I homed in on people wearing denim shorts, I became mildly obsessed until it was all I could see and became consumed with the question, why do adults of a certain age and dimension think they bring anything to the party? They’re not even comfortable to travel in and have we ever seen them in the My Weekly fashion pages? No and there’s a reason, together with Crocs they should be banned, unless you work for a medical establishment or putting out the bins at dead of night.
Have a great bank holiday
Love, Anthea X
Article originally from My Weekly!