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Still plodding my way through the Wolf Hall audio book. Only a couple of hours to go now, but wait there’s two more books in the series. What’s wrong with you Mantel? Keep your books short so people can use their Audible credits properly.
The thing that most affects me about this book is the fact that for the people of 500 years ago, chopping off people’s heads or chucking them on a fire was no big deal. I don’t know how many people of the time were saying, “Hey, should we stop burning people to death, it seems a bit extreme?” But I suppose there’s something in human nature that allows us to justify and even enjoy this level of cruelty. Even if we might be next.
Obviously it’s not something that was just a possibility half a millennium ago and plenty of stuff as awful as this is still going on (and I suspect if we brought back public executions or even immolations there would be a lot of people still queuing up to see it). It’s amazing to see what people are prepared to do (usually) for the cause of religion. And it’s good to live in a world where I can’t be 100% sure that this stuff won’t come back or that I might end my days being beheaded or burned because of some fucking nut’s solid belief in an old book.
It’s a terrifying side of humanity that that can so easily become the default. I can’t stand someone cutting their hand in a TV show. Were there no squeamish people in medieval times?
You might think that burning people to death is a good way to stop other people doing whatever the burnt person did (in this case it seems to be having different feelings about whether a piece of bread is literally or figuratively a largely made up person), but if that was the case then one burning would have done it. But there were lots of burnings. Just like murder didn’t dry up when you might find yourself at the end of a rope if you did it. Public executions persist, I think, not for preventative reasons, but because some people really like to watch them. Or at least imagine them happening. We’re a sick, sick species and it will be better for everyone once we’ve extinguished ourselves on the altars of religion and money and basically being really fucking stupid.
Life goes on (for now).
I took my daughter to school for her first day of Year 2, which seems IMPOSSIBLE. I clearly remember driving her to day one of Reception about four weeks ago. My boy goes into nursery at the same school tomorrow, but for today I was mainly looking after him. He decided at breakfast that he was having a baby and again stuck with and elaborated on this story for most of the day. The baby was in his tummy now, but wouldn’t be arriving until Christmas, but at soft play he gathered up lots of toys for his baby to play with and when we were in the car he told me about the importance of buying a car seat for the baby, who would be sitting next to him. It’ll be nice to be a grandad so soon if I am honest. I was worried I was going to miss out on that joy.
I had a fun day with Ernie (and we’ll have to make the most of these, cos once he’s a dad he might be too busy to hang around with me). After soft play we went to the garden centre (where annoyingly the playground was shut, but he had fun touching every single thing in the shop). Then we had lunch and I got a couple of hours off from him. But when Catie went to pick up Phoebe and go bike shopping, Ernie and me were back together and we made some fairy cakes. Though Ernie just wanted to eat the icing in spoonfuls. Pregnancy can do weird things to your appetite.
If the two years since my daughter started school have gone fast, the four years since this little boy showed up on our doorstep have if anything passed faster. I had no idea that in less time than it takes for a new Olympics (in Covid times) he’d be claiming to be the ghost of a Victorian with a brother called Fishfinger or that he’d have a child of his own. Life is full of surprises.
And whilst I’ve been looking forward to them going back to school so I can maybe get some work done (though I can’t really blame them for my lack of progress), I am devastated that from tomorrow lazy, crazy, fairy cake days like today will be a thing of the past.
Tomorrow’s blog will no doubt be about them starting University.
