benches, admission, lemon grass

For a long time young people have been gathering under some trees in the centre of the Grove to chat among themselves. They made a little home there, removing benches from beside the paths were they were sometimes bolted down, and forming a comfortable square on the grass, like two sofas facing one another. Though some people regarded this re-arrangement as a liberty, something to be disgusted about, others looked quite kindly upon them. Now, in an act of imagination and thoughtfulness, the Council has placed some new benches, of a design better suited to the young, where they like to gather.

An admission from an old friend that he had visited this blog unknown to me and had even made a comment on a post, is a source of pleasure and surprise. A literary man, he signed his comment, Barrett Bonden, a pseudonym, which I should have, but didn't recognise. Who is Barrett Bonden? Jack Aubrey's bosun in the Aubrey Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien. My friend tells me that he has read all 21 of the novels three times. I have read them only once, but that is a poor excuse for missing the reference. If I hadn't, while not identifying him, it would have told me that the visitor was an O'Brien fan, and that, in itself, would have been gratifying.

A lemon grass plant in a pot, apart from its culinary potential, looks good among other herbs and flowers in the garden.