We recently relocated our office in Tortola.  It was time to downsize and make some sensible economies of scale, particularly as we really want to be able to spend more time at Les Terraces in the future, and proportionately less time in the BVI.  While packing up the contents of Mo’s bedroom (which is now the office) I came across an old pocket kite that has sat unused for aeons.  I don’t think that we ever even tried to fly it when he was little, which is sad, as I remember wonderful afternoons with my parents flying my father’s big old box-stunt kite on Butser Hill in Hampshire.  I loved them.  Finding this little kite of Mo’s has made me nostalgic. I’ve decided that since it is so tiny I can squeeze it into the one piece of carry-on luggage that is all Graham & I ever travel with.  While I’m sure that I won’t ever interest Mo in kite flying with me, perhaps I can do it alone in the green space on the north side of the Dordogne, opposite the house.

In a similar vein, I saw a superb video of a truly talented Chinese bubble artist the other day.  It was a promo for an upcoming show he’s touring.  He can do some astonishing things with soapy water and wands.  I don’t know about you, but as a child I loved blowing bubbles; the competition to see how large a bubble you could blow, or releasing long streams of little bubbles with a carefully controlled breath.  Having Mo permitted me to engage in the same fun as an adult.  We’d sit on the deck of a boat, or on the balcony getting covered in bubble juice and giggling.  But as Mo grew older such childish activities were no longer cool, so we stopped doing them.

I’ve decided that this summer I’m going to spend some time unleashing the inner child and recapturing the joy to be found in simple things.  So, if you’re in or around Sainte-Foy-La-Grande and you happen to see bubbles being blown look out – it might well be me!