That July

 

Dear Reader,

It seems that the famous painting by John Constable, known as 'The Hay Wain' was no such thing.  Most people apparently don't know the difference between a cart and a wagon.  A cart has two wheels and a wagon has four.  It is, in reality, a pole tug, designed and used to transport what remained of a tree after felling, when all the branches and foliage had been removed. What remained was the stock, which had to be taken to the foresters' premises so that it could be sawn into planks - via a saw pit. These vehicles would be soaked in a pond during the summer months to make sure that the spokes remained tight.

I have to say that most wagons, carts, and carriages look much the same to me. But I will look with more attention next time we go somewhere where there are these vehicles for us to inspect.

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From Thomas Hardy, June 2nd, l865, in London

'Walked about by moonlight in the evening.  Wondered what woman, if any, I should be thinking about in five years' time.'

From Gilbert White, June 5th, 1782, in Hampshire

'My brother Thomas White nailed up several large scallop shells under the eaves of his house at South Lambeth, to see if the house-martins would build in them. These conveniences had not been fixed up half an hour before several pairs settled upon them; and expressing great complacency, began to build immediately.'

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That July

we planned to walk
along the river bank,
play bridge,
stay overnight in
a superior hotel,
eat in a white
linen-clothed dining room,
exchange gossip, news,
make jokes.

But someone-other
planned other-wise.
No river walks, or talks,
or jokes.
A fatal illness struck,
marked "no reprieve",
with no allowance
for two days under a sunny sky,
our special summer treat,

that July.

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With best wishes, Patricia