pumpkinstrokemarrow

Nature lovers living in Kingston-upon-Thames must be very happy with the state of the mouth of the Hogsmill these days. Twice now we have seen a shoal of reasonable sized fish, clustered on the north eastern corner of the bridge over same, by the law courts. Also a pair of very colourful and sprightly grey wagtails - at least that is what looks most likely from the RSPB idenfication site. But the site does not mention the grey and white chevron stripes on the up side of the tail nor does it talk of bits of green. Not a terribly sophisticated tool for what is, I believe, a very rich charity these days. Gets all the spinster money that used to go to the church.

At the same spot I have seen herons and, on one occasion, a kingfisher. Clearly the a spot for tweeters - although I never seen anyone else peering down.

But life not so good in classics departments these days. I see from the TLS that it is no longer enough to read and love Virgil. You have to write books on what they call receptions through the ages: that is to say how successive generations have viewed and used the classics. Rather like the Roman villa we visited earlier in the year where the display spent some time on displaying past digs rather than villa. All good stuff I dare say - but it is not quite the same as reading the stuff for its own sake. Beginning of the end. Or perhaps the end of the beginning of the end. One could go on.