A sunny day

This morning Vivienne had convened a meeting about the possibility of a U3A philosophy group being set up, to be led by a chap who taught it at university. It was upstairs in the Queen’s Head which didn’t suit everyone as quite a few who came have mobility issues. Me included at the moment. I have never had to drive the car to the village before as I always have just walked there.

I knew a few of the people there including Shona, Diane and Vivienne and also Ian and Anne who used to be in the walking group. Ros and Geoff also hope to come. We all introduced ourselves, some rambling on for ages, and others like Shona and me, keeping it brief. We were encouraged to state what we knew of the vast topic and what areas we were interested in. I said I’d read most of Iris Murdoch’s novels but hadn’t ventured as far as her philosophy. I also mentioned Simone de Beauvoir and the existentialists, having not understood what they were about but he said he had no time for French philosophers. Some wanted to learn about various philosophers but he said that wasn’t the point. He wanted to teach critical thinking. Someone had brought along the graphic adaptation of Sophie’s World. Three of us had bought the actual novel for our daughters when they were young teenagers and he produced it from his bag and suggested we read it and a book called “Think” by Simon Blackburn. Our homework is to think about “Is it possible to act against your will?” But that gives me more questions - What does he mean by “act” and “will”? I’m not sure yet how interesting it’s going to be. Both Shona and I think one couple must stop rambling on about personal anecdotes otherwise it will go nowhere!

This afternoon was art appreciation but it was such a nice sunny, warm day I messaged my apologies and sat in the garden with a bag of peas on my knee while I read Emma then I had the 10 minute walk along the road. The birds were chirping happily in the wood.

We went to Colin and Katy’s for an early supper. It was so nice to catch up. We hope to join them at Dunbar with our vans next week for a couple of nights.