Shall we dance ?

Driving in this morning I heard 'Shall we dance ?' on the radio every word crisp and audible. And I remembered that it was from the musical 'The King and I '. I would have heard that tune on the radio when I was a child and remember seeing the musical starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner. It's the realisation of how experiences like that tuck themselves away only to be called up at a moment's notice after years, stay with us. This is how we learn what we learn ,embedded into our sub conscious or unconscious - fascinating.

Talent Bank

When I am old I shall wear purple, and in fact any other colour or style I damn well please. I am increasingly aware of an unspoken but evident ageist agenda out there- what is the reality of a person over 50 for example who has been made redundant or 'let go' ever finding a job again ? What price the invisible woman who holds a family together and gathers her wisdom around her like a shimmering cloak which can be opened to shelter and support but who rarely recieves any acknowledgement?

Where are the women of any age on boards and bodies which make decisions afecting all our lives in this country? What about the 40% of women who should be on the boards of public bodies? Yep it seems to me that what we need is a talent bank of women who are prepared to participate in public life...I wonder how we might go about getting it ...

In search of a blue sky

Summer this year happened in May, for the second year running. I am not usually affected by the weather but I am curious about why we have had a great wodge of grey tending to black clouds hanging around for days even when it doesn't rain. True there is talk of a heatwave this month but for my part I'd be happy just to see pure blue sky one morning getting up.

Spent yesterday in the company of a Buddhist monk who was an unworldly person exuding terrific charisma from the folds of his saffron robe. I was offered the chance to rest after lunch and despite the deep smell of damp in the room I lay down pulled an old blanket over me and fell asleep for half an hour to be woken by a bell. After a day of silent meditation, I felt much more mentally alert in the evening at home.

So the major excitement of the day has been the arrival of a package from Amazon which contains among other goodies the next book club choice a Skandi thriller. Compare this with my poor old chums in Belfast who have to wade their way through Gore Vidal's Lincoln for their next get together...

Looking forward to getting into the garden later - peas and broad beans podding regularly, cream begonias have bloomed into bridal loveliness. Just needs some hoeing and weeding. And watering. And it would look really good under a blue sky so that we could feature the stripey deck chairs imported from Wicklow.