after 22 years
Posted by Daniela Elza on May 11 2014
I am back at Bedales school and I am spending a week here in the south of England as writer-in residence. It is great to connect with some of the people who are still around the school from the time I was here last.
Here is the library that I fell in love with 22 years ago.
And this is a view of it on the inside. I borrowed Rabindranath Tagore’s book Creative Unity from the library and have been reading it all weekend. Rabindranath Tagore visited the school in 1920, the year before the library was built. The school was built in 1893.
Here is a portrait of R. Tagore done by a local artist while here at Bedales School. I quite like the way the glass reflects my shadow and what is behind me which also looks like windows.
Here are some of the lambs born recently at the school.
Here are the two chickens who lay the eggs for the house I am staying in. I tasted the eggs yesterday and they were delicious:
And the dog. There are three cats in the house too, one of which today brought in a live rat from outside and let it go. I helped catch the poor thing and take it out. Both cat and rat are ok, as well as every one who was disturbed by this.
Yesterday, we went for a very long walk through the network of paths over little bridges
crisscrossing, through green fields, and rushing streams. There are so many shades of green. Some yellow fields blooming with linseed.
Many paths through woods. The blue bells that carpet the forest floor in places are magical.
We saw some blooming garlic flowers.
We saw lots of nettles. Along the side of the paths, in the fields, along the streams. They are everywhere. They made me so hungry for my mom’s nettle soup.
On our way to the Harrow Pub we encountered a monument in honour of three writers who lived in this area.
Edward Thomas (known for his WWI poetry), John Wyndham (wrote science fiction works like The Day of the Triffids, The Mydwych Cockoos, and The Kraken Wakes), and Alec Guinness (wrote three volumes of autobiography).
The Harrow Pub is a place we used to go to and I remember one particular time on a cold winter night we stumbled in there and had the best and heartiest bean soup.
The Smoking Room in which you are not allowed to smoke anymore.
The little church:
And a glimpse inside the church.
The steps that lead up to the belfry where once they rang the bells for me.
The graveyard around the church.
The huge trees in the church yard.
I flipped the camera around, by accident, while trying to take a photo of the rainbow and so this might be officially my first posted selfie. Strange thing, this.
On the way home we caught the tail of a rainbow. A good way to say: Happy Mothers’ Day today.
