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Thoughts and cycling from Manchester to Rome in 2023

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The Plan

May 8, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

Most nights, Mum will read to her six year old at bedtime. Perhaps a story, perhaps a poem about things that are hard to explain:

‘No one can tell me,
Nobody knows,
Where the wind comes from,
Where the wind goes.’
-AA Milne Wind On The Hill

More likely, for a six year old, are stories and poems of companionship underlined by adventure: 

‘So wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
“What would I do?” I said to Pooh,
“If it wasn’t for you,” and Pooh said: “True,
It isn’t much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he.
“That’s how it is,” says Pooh.’
-AA Milne Us Two

Sometimes, when you’re a Mum, you need to be told stories of the day. And maybe once or twice, Mum has to ask if she can record the little girl’s bedtime musings. After all, the girl already knows that stories can shape the world, so it makes sense to share bedtime stories and plans with grandparents.

‘I think I know a plan to get rid of these mean viruses.’

‘This will have to include a machine. This machine is a go-back-in-time machine. And then we’ll get the virus when they’re having their meeting. Each and every one. And when they’re having their meeting, their colours are there.’

‘I think it might be red because red can be a mean colour. We can smash every one. But zero is a nice one. We’ll keep zero. He would be pink, and also, he doesn’t make people in isolation. He makes people come together. And no germs, so he’s a very nice virus. So we’re going to get the rest. One to a hundred have to be smashed.’

‘These viruses I think are really strong. These might be as strong as a house. What is stronger than a house? Giants. We’ll use giant’s hammers to smash them all. Then they’ll be the right size for us but they’ll be powerful. Maybe guns would do. Guns and giant’s hammers. If we don’t know how, tomorrow in home school we can talk about machines and what we can do to get rid of those viruses. Keep zero, he makes people come together. No isolation!’

‘I hope they will work.’

Such innocence before experience reminds me of the ‘songs’ of William Blake (of which more soon).

I got an email asking what my blog was about. SEO wanted to know too. Reading could be your answer, writing maybe mine. Squaring circles. Cooking. Baking today and tomorrow. Photography. About me notes that it’s ‘about the thoughts seeded by events in my day, some of which might have been better kept in.’

  • Sourdough Day 1
  • Baked Butternut Squash
  • Sourdough Day 2
Squaring Circles. © Simon Robinson 2020

Filed Under: Fake Memoir Tagged With: aa milne, cookery, food, grandkids, pandemic, photos, poetry, william blake

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