September – Not an End, but a Beginning

In my column for the September issue of the Hawkesbury Parish News, I’ve been sharing my take on the end of the summer holidays and the start of the new  school year.

They Think It’s All Over

How old do you have to be before you stop thinking in academic years? Even when my daughter has finished her education, I’m sure I’ll still be treating September as the chance for new beginnings – a time to start learning new skills and mastering different subjects.

Not that I intend ever to take another academic exam. My ambition applies to a completely different kind of accomplishment: entering exhibits for the Hawkesbury Horticultural Show.  The start of September means I have a whole year ahead to create a worthy winner in any category, whether handicraft, domestic, or horticultural.

I’ve been fortunate enough to win prizes in many different classes over the years, some due more to luck (e.g. the odd shaped vegetable) than skill (third prize for crochet – go, me!) But every Show Day, as I admire the astonishing array of exhibits in the marquee, I’m always inspired to take up a new hobby so that the following year I might compete in a different class.

So if you’ve been mourning the fact that Hawkesbury Show is over till next August, think again. There’s never been a better time than September to start preparing your entries for next year’s Show, while your inspiration is fresh and time is on your side.

Happy New Show Year, folks!

If you’d like to read more short thoughts like this one, you might enjoy All Part of the Charm, which brings together in book form six years’ worth of my columns for the Hawkesbury Parish News, plus a set of essays on my first impressions of village life when I first moved here over 25 years ago. 

Available to order from all good bookshops (just quote ISBN 978-1911223023) or from the usual online retailers.

Coming soon: my debut novel which takes place
around a village show like Hawkesbury’s:
Best Murder in Show