Well, I’m ending the day, if not the way it began… the way the early afternoon went.

…on the patio.

The sun has dipped below the horizon, and the clouds to the south of the city are glowing pink, high above the tree tops. Distant sounds of a motorbike heading somewhere momentarily drown out the birdsong.

We regularly hear a cuckoo, but either he’s not around tonight, or it’s still too early. If I hear him before I finish, I’ll let you know… otherwise, let’s begin…

Continuous Learning

Last week I started a night course that will help me improve my language teaching. I’m really enjoying it.

One of the things we’re looking at is how the brain functions during the learning process, and how understanding the brain can help us create optimal language learning conditions for students.

Today, I was disconnected from the computer for most of the day and spent some time out on the patio reading & studying before the afternoon sun got too hot. I realized that it’d been a long time since I’d studied anything new (aside from preparing content lessons that I would then teach).

It feels good to put the grey matter to work in a new way…

Happy Anniversary your Majesty

I’ll add a second thing today because it’s a unique time.

From the time I entered elementary school, I remember there always being a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth at the front of the class. If memory serves me correctly it was similar to, if not specifically, the left-most picture of the three pictures below.

What an incredible example of stability. She referred to Prince Philip as her strength and stay, and I daresay that she has been the strength and stay of Great Britain, indeed the Commonwealth.

I read a statistic today that something like 85% of Britons had never known another sovereign, other than Elizabeth… and I am like them. I’ve never known a “King of England”.

Today is the beginning of her Platinum Jubilee weekend and tonight, jubilee beacons will be lit all across the UK.

… so today, I’m grateful for two things.

• I’m grateful to be learning something new… stretching myself in a new way, and…
• I’m grateful to have grown up during the reign of the longest reigning monarch in British history.

I don’t have a beacon, but the sun has gone down enough that I’ve had to light a candle here on the patio… so I’ll consider it my own little beacon.

…and oh yes… the cuckoo still hasn’t made an appearance!

until tomorrow…