By the wayside, sow thistles and other plants which grow fortuitously and pass as "weeds" often improve on close scrutiny.
In a programme on BBC 4 about the history of Pathé News and its documentary films, last night we see clips from a Sixties film about four girls on motor scooters driving into the hold of a cargo plane, crossing The Channel and driving off for a quick tour of the French countryside. It is noteworthy is that they are not wearing crash helmets. The point is the ease and freedom of modern travel. A contrast to traffic on the paths of The Grove where nippers no taller than their fairy bikes and push scooters, are adorned with helmets as though they are going to war.
A squirrel nose down in the grass is nibbling at something tasty. Its tail, balancing it like a question mark, rises overhead..
1 comment:
The helmets are of course a legal requirement. Remember thirty or more years ago a Sikh, in his turban, refused to wear one and kept on getting sent to jail? Whatever one thought about his religious principles one couldn't help thinking they were undermined by his choice of transport - a scooter. Nobody looks principled on a scooter.
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