Ever since I posted about nuns last week I've been seeing them everywhere. There was one at the dental surgery today. She was reading the free magazine that the dentist publishes in a ruthless attempt at self-promotion. I looked over her shoulder discreetly - it was an article entitled 'Make Bad Breath a Thing of the Past'. What do nuns care for halitosis remedies? Or does it cause distress at Vespers when your neighbour emits oral fumes? I blame the artificial lemon juice.
You must have noticed that I often report on the weather. It is true that I hear myself talking about it more and more, although I have always been bored by people who chat on, or even worse, complain about the weather, for after all, what can we do to change it? I think, however, it is a symptom of not being confined to an office. My daily activities are dictated by the current conditions. Some people would call this liberty and enjoy it. So I try to. Today was so hot that the only thing anyone felt like doing after lunch was bathing - I use that term loosely - in the local lake. I somehow ended up taking four children along and spent my time there hiding behind a bank of rushes while they screamed and splashed and generally ruined the peace for the few elderly swimmers who'd got there first. I peeked out at one point just as Titus chucked an enormous piece of wood into the shallows, and hurriedly returned to my book. Too late though - he'd spotted me. Look at me, Mummy, he bellowed, in English. Blew my cover in an instant.
Luckily we had the dental appointment looming, so the limnetic frolic was curtailed. It wasn't at all a wasted trip; I learned from another mother there that the swimming pond in Bovinia is to be avoided at all costs being, as it is, a breeding ground for leeches. How glad I am to have found that out before going there and finding them on my person afterwards.
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