Emerging aspects of the new culture

It was a stormy morning of battering gales, with rain, sleet, snow and hail rattling the windows. I struggled into school for English Paper II and I’d done no revision whatsoever, so I faced the three hours with trepidation. We had four questions to answer, one from a choice of two on each of Conrad, Miller, Austen and Naipaul. I did badly only answering three (on Naipaul, Austen, and Miller) but getting a bit better as I went along.

The History Paper I exam was cancelled because Mr. Gray couldn’t find the exam papers, so we were given unexpected release. Claire had got the questions somehow so we copied them down and although it’s cheating, I don’t care anymore.

I walked home through intermittent gusts of hail and swirling snow. Dad and I went to Moxthorpe library and I got out Buddhism, by Alexandra David-Neel, Maggie Cassidy by Kerouac (he would have been sixty years old today), Teach Yourself Journalism and Explorations: Emerging Aspects of the New Culture.

At four, Lee and I caught the bus to Knowlesbeck and visited three second-hand shops; Lee bought an overcoat for £3.75.

We walked back along the river in bright late afternoon sun and stillness. Lee seemed to really enjoy it, continually declaring everything “ace” and remarking on how timeless the river bank looked. It really was excellent, and by the time we approached Egley, the cemetery gleamed white and enticing on the hillside ahead and the light was mellowing into evening.

Grant rang at eightish and we had a long talk about music, art, theatre, Jackson Pollock, and Philip K. Dick (who’s just died). All these things make me feel so glad to able to look and learn, but desperate sort of too, and frustrated that I never explore anything to its full potential.  Time is so short.