Today I received two emails stating how wonderful I was and thanking me for applying for a particular job. In both instances the writer regretted however, that I was not successful on this occasion, and my information would be kept on file for any future positions... yes I’m sure.
I have furthermore resigned from the company who I have not been working for these past 3 months and still owes me a multitude of pay. I was naively deluded into the idea that money would be forthcoming, I was of course deceived.
I have also, sadly, come to the end of My Family and Other Animals. I think this has had a greater effect on me than anything else that has happened today.
It is, as I said, a wonderful book. I found myself trying to catch my breath, reading with one eye closed and yelling at the page, “nooo, what are you doing?” when Gerry started wrestling with a snake in a murky swamp.
There were also many instances where I found myself laughing out loud, and reading parts of the book out to anyone who happened to be near me at the time (even if it was my budgerigar Bernard). Wanting someone else to experience this world I had found myself in, or ‘extracting the full flavour’ as the above excerpt from the book itself so succinctly puts it.
One section of the book reminded me very much of another story which currently resides in my bookshelf called Journey to the River Sea, by Eva Ibbotson. The title will be added to the 'What to read next’ list.
And so I will leave My Family and Other Animals, with one final quotation from Gerry’s elder brother Larry, upon hearing that his great aunt Hermione was coming to stay; “Really, Mother, you are impossible! I was looking forward to a nice, quiet summer’s work, with just a few select friends, and now we’re going to be invaded by that evil old camel, smelling of mothballs and singing hymns in the lavatory.” I’m sure most can be thankful not to have an aunt like that!
278 days remaining, 20 books to go.
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