Unforeseen Pleasures

Unforeseen Pleasures

Irene and I ordered a new carpet for our upstairs room. Of course we had to prepare the room for the carpet layer. Moving out sofas, emptying book shelves, shifting computers and desk, unscrewing book shelves, these were anticipated jobs although doing them in the hottest temperatures we had ever experienced was not foreseen. But, Dear Friends, after the carpet was laid and most of the room was returned to its former glory, now resplendent with the smell and bare-footed fulsomeness of the new pile, we had to return the books to their proper place. Now, days after the carpet was laid, there are still books on the floor awaiting their destiny. Why? Well, there has been the unforeseen pleasure of rediscovery.

Last week I found a biography of Beatrix Potter by Linda Lear. I have no idea where this came from but I thought that I would have a go at reading it. Potter was a children’s author and illustrator who spent a large part of her adult life in England’s Lake District. Having plenty else on the bedside table that I was in the midst of reading, I decided to set aside the Berlin Noir mystery, the history of wood, the book about the Greek/Persian wars and focus on my newest discovery. Why? Well because I had an intuitive belief that I would be transported back to that region of the UK by the prose of the author. What better, during a travel restricted life, than to read descriptions of a place one once visited and thus experience a metaphorical transportation? Why would one not want to live vicariously through the bucolic countryside of the present, as well as through the historical perspectives of a different time? Both joys were suddenly open to me. So bedtime came and I entered a world of lakes lapping, sheep bleating, breezes blowing, heather growing. I felt the ground beneath my feet as I walked a peaty, purple carpet up a Scafell and a Langdale Pike and other famed English peaks which are mere bumps on the landscape compared to an Alp, a Himalaya or a Rocky mountain but they do possess their own majesty. What better way to prepare for a night’s sleep than the potential of a dream about a past experience with the prospect of a future one in a region of which I have a passing knowledge. Then I discovered “Arguably” on the floor.

“Arguably’ is a collection of essays by the late, great, (maybe even grate!) Christopher Hitchens.  This most wonderful and articulate of atheists writes prose that leaps off the page and smacks one on the chin. His ideas and thoughts pull no punches. Whether he is demanding that Henry Kissinger be tried as a war criminal, or lamenting the treatment of women in some Middle Eastern countries or reviewing the works of some long dead author, then he is never boring. Often one is destined to read an essay that will make one uncomfortable, uneasy and maybe provokes thoughts that maybe one wishes that one did not have. So, Dear Reader, Hitchens is not a read by which to sleep, perchance to dream. At least that’s what I thought. How wrong I was, one can read his prose and sleep the peace of the innocent thereafter. Why is that? It is because his words flow; phrases elide one into the other with natural insouciance, streams flowing into rivers; turns of phrase are original and a perfection, beautiful views on a stormy day. No matter what nasty truths he discovers; what uncomfortable realities he finds in the war torn regions of the world; what evils he finds in the human condition; what costly outcomes he comes across for prey and predator in peace and war, such is his prose that one feels uplifted. So most nights when I finish reading a chapter or two of one or both of these authors, I can lay me down with a tranquil smile on my face.

The beauty of unforeseen pleasures is that one cannot prepare for them because, well, that is self-evident. So an unexpected ripple on Mackay Creek which betrays our local resident beaver; a greeting from a long lost friend in a coffee shop; a chance discovery of a long needed tool in the shed. These are all writ large in our imaginations as we emerge from the closets of our existence into the wider world that we used to know. Maybe now as we renew our acquaintance with the way of life which we once had, we will come to know again what was and, maybe, just maybe, through our locked down vision we will see it as a rosier coloured ‘what is’, than we did when we took it for granted some 18 months ago.

My friend, Paula Lamb, has kindly involved me in couple of her recent podcasts. Should you be interested here are the details of her excellent work below.

Thanks again for reading.

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Podcast:  Knowing Me, Knowing You with Paula

https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1560855730

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About the Podcast:

“Knowing Me, Knowing You” with Paula is a lifestyle podcast.  It is about knowledge share and storytelling with those that Paula has connected with and met along this journey we call life.  Paula the host tunes in from the West Coast of Canada and touches on topics related to Personal Development & Self Improvement, Fitness, Nutrition, Wealth Management,  book reviews, and more. Sometimes hosting guests from around the world, sometimes sharing her own thoughts and life lessons.  Tune in every week for a new episode.