King Charles, when Prince of Wales, devoted much of his time, effort and energy campaigning for causes and issues he had held dear for many years – the environment, organic gardening and climate change among others. He was surely a man ahead of his time. In the early days, for speaking out on these subjects, he was considered, by many, to be soft in the head, a crank. The passing of time has proven him right and these issues are now front-page news. As King, he cannot now speak publicly on these matters but, for the future of all of us, I sincerely hope he continues to give the good and great an ear bashing in private.
Holidays – who needs them?
Holidays are supposed to be a time to unwind and relax, but they are far from that. You toil and sweat twice as hard as normal to get on top of things before you go then three times harder when you get back to catch up with all the jobs that have accumulated while you were absent. But it is the travelling to and from your holiday that really cranks up the stress levels. Airports are intimidating, inhumane cattle markets, mixed with a bewildering array of ruthless retailers aggressively trying to sell you items you don’t need or want. Railway stations are great, soulless cathedrals of unholy noise and rugby scrum crowds. Road travel is no better, with highways and byways with surfaces like ploughed fields, traffic jams and kamikaze drivers.
Surely, the best place for rest and recuperation is pottering about in our gardens and allotments, where it is possible to proceed only to a rhythm set by the drum beat of nature. My old and wise allotment neighbour, Seth Courtney, once told me: “Sometimes, when I come down to my plot, I sit and think. And sometimes, I just sit.”
Who needs holidays? No one! Restore your soul every day by losing yourself in your growing space.
NB. Please note the above image is sadly not of our chairman but of another dedicated gardener.
Tags: holidays, recuperation, rest