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Meeting up with school friends

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It’s a long time since we’ve seen each other. School is where we met, and plenty has happened in between. We’ve also come a long way.

Now some of us live in London, some in Paris, others in Madrid, some in Sydney, and some in Auckland. It’s been a summer of catching up, with another couple still to join us from Toronto. It has been such a pleasure discovering that whatever the distance and years apart the old classmates can still be found. So much has changed, and yet so little has changed. We are older, but our foundations the same, although possibly an accent has been tweaked here or there.

Now we are about to scatter again, but we’ve remembered, and it’s been fun.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Life at Full Tilt – I love the title for a start

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This arrived in the post today, and I am so looking forward to reading it.

I opened the front cover of the book and discovered a map of the world with arrows racing out from various points on different continents, each arrow ending in a book written by Dervla Murphy. I counted 24 in total, and those may be just the ones from which extracts have been taken for this book. That’s a lot of ground to cover.

There are just two titles that I recognise, and have read, from those listed on the inside map. The last one I read was Wheels within Wheels in which Dervla describes her family and early life, and the circumstances that led to her setting off on her bicycle – the trips getting longer and longer.

It must have been quite a task to choose a selection for this book. I hope to have the time to savour them slowly.

Thank you Eland.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Is this the loneliest tree in London?

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Lately I’ve been fretting about this tree, the only street tree on this block. I can’t decide whether it’s the buildings that make the tree look miserable, or the tree that makes the buildings look miserable.

I’m also wondering if, in fifty years or so – perhaps sooner if we’re lucky – we might have a better understanding of trees. Maybe we’ll be treating them with more respect. Perhaps we’ll adapt our cities to suit the trees, rather than expect the trees to adapt to the cities. Maybe we’ll even begin to clear large spaces for proper groupings of trees, rather than lifting slabs of concrete here and there.

Meanwhile I’d love to find out if this tree minds being isolated like this, surrounded by buildings rather than forest, and wafted by exhaust fumes rather than fresh air. Perhaps it’s happy, but what happens to its roots beneath the pavement? Where do they go? How and where do they find their water? Is there anything we can do to make it bigger, to help it help us to hold off extreme heat?

It would be so much easier if it could talk.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023