I bought this little hardback at Kew Gardens one autumn and it is delightful to dip into: 55 little essays by different writers about 'little things that make life worth living'. ' The deepest pleasures almost always come from the simples sources' and yet, ' there is nothing simple about simple pleasures'. My favourite essays include 'A Good Log Fire', 'Owls at Night' 'Gone Fishing', 'Welsh Rain' and 'In Pursuit of the Purple Emperor'.
'For one heady month in midsummer the Emperor takes to the air, and people vulnerable to obsessive behaviour go quite silly.'
'Suddenly - and I had warned you about visions and waking dreams- there it was , the subject of my wildest aspirations, a pristine Iole male imbibing some mysterious ambrosia on the woodland floor. The experience realised one of those dreams that mean all and everything to the dreamer without meaning anything to anyone else. Such desiderata are of the utmost importance, being the passion of the individual soul.' Matthew Oates
Reading this book made me want to write about my favourite 'simple pleasures' too. I can't imagine anyone not wanting to do the same.
Tuesday, 16 February 2016
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