The Making of the Florentine Garden

It took me several years to realise that I would never be satisfied with the two beds next to the drive, one overshadowed as is by the ancient hazel, and to determine to reduce them to purely classical forms. Although they contain satisfactory clumps of euphorbia wulfenii, rosemary and lavender, they also have had rather messy 'centres' of nepeta and other 'light' plants. 

The 'Adam' design in Bath stone

I am increasingly drawn to classical architecture and forms, and indeed the design of the garden is based on classical geometry and its proportions. Recently I have been veering towards making the garden even more overtly classical and reducing the number of flowering plants in favour of strong architectural plants like box and yew, offset by softer forms like rosemary.

Finally, this year these beds have been cleared of all plants except the euphorbia, rosemary and lavender. Bases of old York stone topped with a stone column have been installed, bordered by sloping yew buttresses on each side. One column has been moved from the area of the box walk at tbe top of tbe garden, with its armillary sphere, while the other, an Adam design in Bath stone, has come from Haddonstone. I have a metal sphere to put on top of it, but will look for some appropriate statuary. 

I now call this area the 'Florentine Garden' in memory of the kind of gardens I have seen there, particularly at the Torre del Bellusguardo.  As well as looking good all the year round, it will be almost completely labour-free.

  

 

President Kennedy's Speech on Poetry and Art at Amherst (1963)

John Kennedy 

In 1963, Kennedy was invited to Amherst College to give talk honouring Robert Frost who had recently died. These are excerpts from  his speech, which can be heard in full here  

Strength takes many forms, and the most obvious forms are not always the most significant. The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.

Robert Frost coupled poetry and power, for he saw poetry as the means of saving power from itself. When power leads men towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truth which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment. 

The artist, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state… In pursuing his perceptions of reality, he must often sail against the currents of his time. This is not a popular role…

If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware that our Nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist. 

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth… In free society art is not a weapon and it does not belong to the spheres of polemic and ideology. Artists are not engineers of the soul. It may be different elsewhere. But democratic society — in it, the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. And the nation which disdains the mission of art invites the fate of Robert Frost’s hired man, the fate of having “nothing to look backward to with pride, and nothing to look forward to with hope.”

We take great comfort in our nuclear stockpiles, our gross national product, our scientific and technological achievement, our industrial might — and, up to a point, we are right to do so. But physical power by itself solves no problems and secures no victories. What counts is the way power is used — whether with swagger and contempt, or with prudence, discipline and magnanimity. What counts is the purpose for which power is used — whether for aggrandizement or for liberation. “It is excellent,” Shakespeare said, “to have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.”

Stockbridge In the Age of the Coronavirus - the DL's Visit October 2021

On 8th October 2021 the Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire, Andrew Kent, came to Stockbridge to thank all those who had played a significant part in helping the community during the lockdowns caused by the pandemic. Much of the organisation had been carried out by Chantal Halle.

He visited Stockbridge Primary School, where the use of the kitchens was offered by the head Emma Jefferies, and free lunches were cooked by the school chef, Shawn and delivered to vulnerable residents.

The Deputy Lieutenant, Andrew Kent, talking to the pupils of Stockbridge Primary School. The chef, Shaun, can be seen standing in the background. 

Beccy's the greengrocer had stayed open throughout, with being purchases collected by the staff so that customers could remain outside. 

The DL thanking Beccy

The Co-Op had offered free baked goods. and John Robinson's and Thyme & Tides had supplied low-cost meals, as had Prego.

Vishnu and Tom from the Co-Op being thanked by the DL

The DL thanking Robinson's 

The DL thanking Thyme & Tides 

The DL thanking Prego, accompanied by Alex Edwards, the chairman of the Parish Council 

After his perambulation, the DL was given tea in the Scout Hut. 

 

  

The Church Closers' Charter and Other Attacks on the CofE Churches

Following the closure of all C of E churches (ie not Catholic ones) in March 2020 because of the pandemic, many people became very disillusioned and particularly with the church hierarchy. Not only was the complete closure of churches for so long thought unnecessary, but noone seemed either to be in charge or supporting the immense mount of pastoral work that was being done as a consequence of the lockdowns. Furthermore, it seemed that the long-running battle to stop the church from abandoning the traditional rural parishes in favour of evangelical city churches was being lost..  

The issues were well aired by Giles Fraser in a piece in UnHerd in July 2021 'The Church is Abandoning its Flock.'  

Since then, further sinister moves have been made, more particularly with the publication of a 'Consultation on 'A Mission Revision' Paper GS2222'. This seemingly innocuous piece of bureaucracy could further strip the rural parishes of their churches and vicarages. This document has been analysed by Emma Thompson in the Spectator in September 2021 in an article that names GS2222 'The Church Closers' Charter'. 

Many objections to the 'charter' have been raised and below is one that captures the points that most of us would make.     

 

1. This consultation has to be seen in the context of a widescale (universal?) belief that our beloved Church currently, and patently, lacks meaningful leadership and a coherent message for our own congregations, let alone the general populace. During the recent Covid crisis, our Church performed very badly and deeply upset many hitherto committed Christians. Sadly it mirrors the labour Party in being out of touch with its own supporters

 

2. Recent reorganisations of rural parishes have reduced the number of clergy (while not reducing the Parish Share!) to the point of ineffectiveness. The C of E seems determined to continue down this process gradual decline. The focus on inner cities and church plantations is welcome and commendable but should not be at the expense of traditional rural parishes, which remain the heartland of the Anglican Church and the financial ‘bread-basket’ of the dioceses. At the moment, It is all so negative and defeatist. As a previous Diocesan Chairman of Finance, I have absolutely no doubt that most parishes are capable of producing significantly increased with better fundraising and determined leadership. This in turn would fund a new breed of more able and enthusiastic clergy and reset the Church on an upward spiral of growth, which our country as a whole desperately needs.

 

3. My fundamental objection to GS2222 is that  these proposals are designed to facilitate the process of decline and, if implemented, a further, and possible fatal collapse, will be precipitated. Your rural congregations cry out for positive leadership and the vision of an expanding church and not one in perpetual and terminal decline.

No satisfactory response has been received to these points.

Europa and Zeus at Old Swan House

 

This plaster cast from a display at the British Museum has recently been installed at Old Swan House. 

It has given rise to a discussion on what scene was being depicted. My local classical scholar thinks that it most probably depicts the myth of the Rape of Europa, in which Zeus disguises himself as a bull and carries Europa off to Crete, where she gives birth to the Minotaur among others. This scene must be early in the story as Europa seems unwisely to be treating the bull as a pet. Soon afterwards, he persuades Europa to climb onto his back, whereupon he swims with her off to Crete. 

See a painting of the myth, Titian at the National Gallery - Love, Desire, Death.  

 

Winchester Cathedral Flower Festival 2021

The Jane Austen display

The Flower Festival has been held again in  Winchester Cathedral's after the loss of 2020 and it was spectacular and beautiful as ever. Special mention should be made of the design of the Jane Austen arrangement with its soft colours; some dislays used colours that were too harsh against the grey stones.

Part of the Jane Austen display 

   

The Garden in August 2021

 August was not a good month in the garden, apart from the grass which was near perfect after weeks of rain and little sun. 

The lawn seen though one of Alan Titchmarsh's planters

The 'money shot' when the sun was out.

The chaise longue in the long grass; it will never move again

The grass garden at evening 

A Long Indian Summer - by Rolls Across India

 

 

Favourite Poems - The Second Coming - WB Yeats

 The Second Coming

Both sections, in their complex ambiguity, seem so relevant today, as the Taliban move towards Kabul.  What a mess.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst   
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.   
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out   
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert   
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,   
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,   
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it   
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.   
The darkness drops again; but now I know   
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

WB Yeats 

Things Anti-Vaxxers Told Me This Week

This is extraordinary, but goes to explain how some people think. Fortunately no one that I know!

The anti-vaxxers are angry at us. They say we’ve been judgemental. We don’t listen to them. We don’t respect their views.

So I started listening.

Here’s what they have to say:

Rules don’t work, so we shouldn’t have them.

Some anti-vaxxers have said they’re not following health guidelines simply because it’s being forced on them. The same goes for masks and social distancing. They say putting mandates in place hasn’t stopped the virus from spreading, because people don’t follow the rules.

That means rules are pointless.

It’s oppressive to make rules and try to get people to follow them, because most people are going to ignore those rules. So you’re really just punishing people following their own nature.

There’s no point in trying to modify anyone’s behavior. If you’re going to try, you should be nice and non-confrontational about it.

That way, it’s easier to ignore you.

The same logic applies to masks. The cheap cloth masks don’t stop the spread of these more contagious variants. So instead of trying to find better masks, we should just ditch them altogether. Besides, there’s no point in asking someone to make small sacrifices for someone else. Everyone’s responsible for their own health. (We’ll talk more about that later.)

It doesn’t matter how many lives are at stake. We should always just present information and let people make up their own minds. If half the population is making a poor choice, then the other half just have to mask up and stay home or get out of their way. It doesn’t matter whether we have jobs, vulnerable relatives, or kids who belong in school.

It’s your life.

Just figure it out.

In their view, we should just let everyone do their own research and make their own health decisions. It’s pointless to worry about whether you get someone else infected.

That leads to their next point.

Everyone’s responsible for their own health.

Anti-vaxxers still believe the coronavirus targets unhealthy people, especially the ones who don’t take care of themselves. So if you exercise and eat healthy, then you have nothing to worry about.

You’re invincible.

In this worldview, every single aspect of your health is under your control. There’s no such thing as hereditary disease. Everyone is born with a fundamentally healthy body and mind. What you do with that is up to you. It’s sad that some people live in areas without access to decent grocery stores. It’s too bad that companies thrive on marketing junk food to poor people, and they go to great lengths to suppress information about their products. It’s too bad that fast food chains smother America.

There’s nothing we can do about this. It’s the way the world works. You should just eat healthy and not worry about anything else.

We’re not sure what “eating healthy” means. It could mean eating fruits and vegetables, but maybe not. It could mean a paleo diet, a keto diet, an Atkins diet, or a blood-type diet. It could mean taking any number of supplements which might or might not work. It probably means following the advice of fitness gurus and eating what they promote on their social media channels, and their self-published e-books.

The best course of action during a pandemic is to follow your diet guide and do absolutely nothing else to keep yourself from catching it. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Sure, there’s stories about fit, healthy young people getting really sick with coronavirus. They might take years to recover, or maybe never. There’s more studies showing that even if Covid doesn’t kill you, it can leave you with serious long term illness and disability.

Again, that’s just life.

Nobody can prove anything.

Some anti-vaxxers have said there’s no way to gather any definitive information on the coronavirus, so there’s no point in having debates. There’s no definitive proof that mRNA vaccines are safe. There’s no definitive proof that the coronavirus infects healthy people and kids.

There’s no definitive proof that the virus is mutating into deadlier variants that could escape immunity altogether.

The only way to prove something for certain is to see it happen for yourself. Until then, you might as well do whatever you want. That means living your normal life, until you get infected.

We all take risks. Driving around in your car poses the same risk as carrying on with your normal routine during a pandemic.

All risks are created equal.

If it’s not happening to you, it doesn’t matter.

Anti-vaxxers put their own choices above everything else.

Don’t tell them what to do, it’s that simple.

Lots of anti-vaxxers have said there’s no evidence that they should be worried about the coronavirus, because they haven’t been infected with it. Nobody they know has been infected with it either.

There’s no evidence that hospitals are overrun, because the hospitals where they live are doing just fine. One of them even told me, “If any of this were true, it would be front page news.”

(Actually, it is.)

It’s fine to use anecdotal evidence to make important decisions. In fact, anecdotal evidence can outmatch statistical data. It’s just as valid, because what you personally observe in your own life is more important than what’s happening anywhere else in the world.

Out of sight, out of mind.

All information is subjective.

There’s a reason why the information you share with anti-vaxxers doesn’t persuade them. They didn’t budge on masking or social-distancing either. It’s because that’s just your opinion.

Any evidence you present is always incomplete and partial. It can always be challenged by another piece of information.

The media is controlled.

The CDC is controlled, along with every other agency and fact-checking organization. The information they trust is what they found digging through the web on their own, from people who already agree with them. This information beats yours, always.

That’s because you’re brainwashed, and you get your information from biased sources who have an agenda. They don’t have one.

Only you do.

Everyone has a right to a bad opinion.

Anti-vaxxers have told me they’re taking a principled stand on their own individual rights and personal freedoms.

To summarize:

• If someone wants to catch Covid and take their chances, that’s their right. It doesn’t matter if they spread the virus.
• If someone else dies, it’s becausethey should’ve taken better care of themselves — even unvaccinated children.
• There’s no proof that healthy people or children are at risk, even if we’re starting to see more kids in hospitals. The only way to prove that is for thousands of kids to get sick and die. Even if that happens, it’s probably just liberal propaganda.
• We should just let everyone do what they want, and then we’ll see how many people die this coming year.

That’s a fair representation of their stance. It’s exactly what they’ve said to me when it comes to handling the pandemic.

If you point out how selfish or ignorant this sounds, then you’rebeing judgmental. You’re the hateful one who’s creating division. You’re the one who has a closed mind, not them.

You’re the bad guy.

It’s fine if someone else wants to endanger their own lives, and put yours at risk. It’s fine for corrupt politicians and shock jocks to spread misinformation to tens of millions of people. It’s fine to harass and ridicule health workers and experts you disagree with. It’s fine to openly speculate that maybe it’s the vaccinated people who are responsible for everything, including variants that appeared before vaccines were even available. It’s fine to take it all back after you get really sick, and need their help.

Calling them out makes you petty and sanctimonious.

Anti-vaxxers are allowed to publicly air skepticism and suspicion about vaccines. They’re allowed to threaten doctors and nurses and accuse them of murder. They’re allowed to compare vaccine passports to yellow stars and pink triangles, or even concentration camps.

You’re supposed to listen to them.

You’re supposed to nod.

It’s fine to believe whatever you want until you get someone killed. It’s fine to refuse masks and vaccines and then infect someone, watch them die, and then blame liberals. Nobody should ever make you feel bad for your colossal mistakes, especially if you never admit them. Everyone makes mistakes that result in incalculable levels of death and suffering.

It’s arrogant and hateful to point out someone else’s logical fallacies and unconscious biases. It’s immature to criticize someone else’s poor behavior or reckless decision making. If you were truly empathetic, you would just shrug and leave them alone.

Your hardships and sacrifices over the last year mean nothing to them. You should be kind to the ones who’ve mocked you for wearing a mask and intentionally invaded your personal space at stores, making you anxious to be in public. You should smile at those who’ve disregarded your rights. You should be understanding as they call you a brainwashed sheep, until they finally get sick and deprive you of a hospital bed.

Idiots have a right to their opinion. They have a right to respect. They have a right to affordable healthcare.

You don’t.

Whatever you do, never repeat their views back to them.

That’s offensive

Things Anti-Vaxxers Told Me This Week by Jessica Wildfire