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Sunday 26 February 2017

Do You Judge a Book by its Cover?

We all know that we shouldn't do it and yet we do.  We can't help it.   We judge books by their covers, and we judge people.

A Book from my shelves
beautifully tooled and with gilt decoration
(the smudges were on the camera lens, not the book)


Without revealing too much, I thought it would be fun to tell you a little about the group of people who meet once a month in Little Bunting's Village Hall.




We are a pretty ordinary group of people.   We don't dress smartly* and we don't constantly fidget with smart phones.   Most of us have silver/white hair and to the 'young' we have almost become invisible.



Yet in and among this group are several retired schoolteachers, a former editor of a highly regarded magazine, a self-made multi-millionaire, an artist, a former PA who worked in the aerospace industry, then for a Dubai Sheikh and later, for a Japanese Oil Executive,  another is the former resident of a large National Trust property, there are a couple of farmer's wives (who are as well used to catering for large dinner/shooting party as they are to providing a hot meal out in the fields during the long days of harvest) several exceptional gardeners who scoop up prizes at all the local shows, one woman who was widowed young yet managed her farm and young family single-handedly from then on,  the well-travelled wife of a retired sea-captain who also happens to be a skilled horsewoman...



...I could go further, but I'm sure I don't need to do so.

Our covers may be old and wrinkly, our ink faded, but we have lived and worked through good times and bad times, different times.   Perhaps in the ordinary scheme of things our paths would not have crossed.   We would all have missed out on something special.

*The hall is unheated until we arrive.   We put on the heaters and by the time we are ready to leave the worst of the chill has gone.    So we dress accordingly.   Fleeces, heavy coats and jackets.

In winter it is even worse.   ;)


Some of my favourite books.


These are some of the oldest, wrinkliest and best-loved books on my shelves.   I dip into them and read them very frequently.

The beautiful book at the top of the page is simply that.   Beautiful.   I occasionally pick it up and admire it, dust it, put it back down again, the content simply doesn't interest me.

xx

8 comments:

  1. Well said....I've already lived most of my life. In that time I've been a newspaper reporter, had a catering business, candle maker, artist, production engineer, and recently a blogger. My most important job was that of mother to three children...I would have to put myself in the old wrinkly book category.

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    1. Meggie, my dearest friend, I hope we have many years left in us yet! You lead such a full and busy life; I know that I would struggle to keep up with you. If I were to write this post on a different day I may well have tackled it rather differently but this is how it came out today. You know me, I don't plan posts, they simply happen.

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  2. Such a lovely post!

    So full of Wisdom.

    I have been lucky, to be reading many posts this morning, which are full of Wisdom, and give more to be considered and thought about.

    And so bitter/sweet, are your words... "Most of us have silver/white hair and to the 'young' we have almost become invisible."

    So true. And so True also, that we need to remember, to continue to Notice and Validate, our fellow older people!!!!!

    Because no matter what age, all humans need "strokes" and validation, and love. You, in your little village, are providing that. Wonderful!!!!!

    Luna Crone



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    1. Hello Luna, You are very kind, thank you, although it is entirely undeserved.
      My undisciplined mind gets a chance to roam and ponder while I take my daily walks through the fields which surround our villages. Often I don't see another soul, so plenty of thinking time. Other times I bump into some of these people and stop for a chat and learn a little more of their fascinating life stories.

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  3. My elderly uncle, when he looked at himself in the mirror when shaving, said that he was "in disguise" which I thought a wonderful way of describing the exterior shell of old age!
    Margaret P
    www.margaretpowling.com

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    1. Hello Margaret, An excellent description! I find that I use mirrors quite differently these days, more of a fleeting glance. I have often been shocked to see my mother's older sister peering back at me.

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    2. Hi Wendy, It made me smile, too. He was spot on!

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Lovely to hear from you.
I will try to answer comments in the next post.