After the rains

a few heart shaped leaves still hang on the Judas tree, cercis siliquastrum Judas tree

My massage patient was late, which gave me a few minutes' bliptime in the garden. After the dreadful rains which caused floods in some parts of the town, and the South West in general, it was a welcome relief. There had been a great deal of weather-related anxiety at work, and the play session was difficult because half of the hall was being taken up by a giant trampoline, and no one could even think about going out of doors. It's a very special kind of special school, and we like to get as many children as possible out of their wheelchairs at playtime.

I knew I'd be able to get home, because I can walk, and it's all uphill. One great reason for my working near the centre of town is that, even if the weather gets really snowy as it did a few years ago, I should still be able to ice axe my way off our estate and get to work, if there are any students there! Feet beat tyres, sometimes.

This isn't what I meant to write about at all! I've been doing more reading concerned with my course on lit and social history of the 1930s. Next week is the last session, and we'll be looking at The Spanish Civil War. I am proud to have been associated with the Stroud football poets' production of !No Pasaran! in the 1990s, which tells the story of some of the Gloucestershire volunteers who joined the republican cause in the civil war. In 2000 we put on a reading of various poems and extracts from the play at London's Conway Hall, where we met and talked to some of the veterans, an unforgettable experience. We also performed the play at Leyhill open prison, if my memory serves me right, as well as various schools and public halls. Leyhill prison has a 'proper' theatre, which impressed me. We also put on some songs and sketches at the Cheltenham literary festival, where for some reason we were allowed to drink real wine instead of Ribena in the bar scenes. It was a spirited performance...