Darlington Green Park Book Club

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.”

TS Eliot from “Little Gidding” Four Quartets

This poem has stayed with me since I studied it at A level - it was actually quoted by Thomas Mann in his novel Tonio Kröger.

It sums up how I feel about my/our lives of exploring and living in different cultures and the way I feel when returning to the UK.

A lovely sunny/cloudy day which gave L more time in the garden and once I finished my BG work, was able to do some more reading preparation for my upcoming thesis. It was a treat to walk for 3 minutes into Green Park and sit on a park bench while finishing Stephen Greenblatt’s “The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve”. Once back at the house was able to relax, make a cocktail while LV cooked a delicious Green Chef risotto and then we had good conversation with some laughs and honesty - all of which is such a rich human experience.