Take note ...

A gentler start to the day. We sat in the cottage conservatory and watched the lambs and the birds and the cats and the bees. It’s a lovely place, just too small for my lanky physique. It’s good to get a free yoga session every time you use the bathroom - downward dog to get through the door, half moon pose to stand in the shower, eagle pose to clean your teeth, and balancing stick pose to get out again without trapping your genitals in the towel rail - but that doesn’t really compensate for all the inconvenience.

We went to one session together at the Festival, Stig Abell talking about (essentially) underfunding and incoherence in public policy. Very good and extremely well chaired. I then went to a session with Mariana Mazzucato who basically set out the core problem of modern capitalism: it’s geared to rewarding asset stripping rather than creating value, and it hides the inequities of this behind a false narrative of entrepreneurs good, public sector bad. The problem is that it’s all horrendously complex and far removed from the realities of everyday life for most people so they lash out at the media created scapegoats (immigrants, benefit fraudsters, and terrorists) which allows those who live and operate in the shadows to quietly get on with the process of ripping us all off.

My problem is this. I go to Hay and events like it and feel nurtured, stimulated, motivated and refreshed. Then I come home and fail to live a life that is different. I need a balance that is more of these things and less of the things that just numb me.

Anyway -

It was fantastic to spend three lovely days together. We came home late afternoon and emptied the car of books, left over snacks, dirty washing and bags. It wasn’t what you would call travelling light. Beautiful sunny evening so we sat in the garden and tried to readjust to our normal lives.

Or maybe, just maybe, this time we will change things ...