It was getting late. The next building they passed was already closed.
I hope that's not the library, said Baby Pierre.
It says ART GALLERY on the front, observed Frog.
So I was right, said Baby Pierre. It's not the Library.
Frog looked sour.
The next building was set back from the road beyond sunken lawns edged by palm trees. People were hurrying inside.
This must be the Library, said Baby Pierre.
But it wasn't the library, it was the Museum. Baby Pierre and Frog had arrived just in time for the Sprigg Lecture. They decided to stay.
They walked up the grand central staircase and turned right into the Pacific Cultures Gallery. They chose two seats on the front row.
What if someone sits on us? said Frog.
They will get a surprise, said Baby Pierre. Especially if they sit on you.
The lecture was about Megafauna. The speaker had published a book on the Diprotodon. She told the audience that just before she published the book she had learned that current thinking had changed. The two different species of Diprotodon were actually male and female of the same species.
There's a case where it would have been better to know the future, whispered Frog loudly.
Poo! said Baby Pierre. It would have been better to know the past.
Showing posts with label British Museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Museum. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Part 6 : My Life Without Me
What would my life have been like if my parents hadn't emigrated? Perhaps every child in similar circumstances wonders this.
The other me ( let me call her Heather, which was the name they didn't give me ), may well have died of whooping cough. I caught it every year which was why they decided to move to a warmer climate.
Assuming Heather hadn't died, what next? She wouldn't have had the pleasure of learning this poem, composed ex tempore by her dad:
This New Years Day of fifty five
We're certainly glad to be alive.
We'll pack our bags at the end of May
And go on board the Oronsay.
This biggest, newest, fastest ship
Will take us on a lovely trip
Across the ocean far and wide,
And deposit us in Adel-ide.
Yes, you must pronounce Adelaide wrongly for it to rhyme, and this is what makes it so delicious. To have learned this poetic lesson at the age of five is a privilege Heather will never know.
Heather grew up to be a studious girl and went to Oxford University. Later she became someone who was interested in art history. She worked at the British Museum painstakingly restoring various items, and sometimes at the National Portrait Gallery doing this and that. She was also very talented and produced many delicate and much admired etchings.
As to her personal life I've never thought about it. Thinking about it now I'm thinking : If she had three children they would be half like my three children. I don't like this thought. Nor do I like Heather, very much.
She has had one more summer in her life than me. This is because I left England at the end of May and arrived in Adel-ide in June. The more I think about this the crosser I get.
That's all.
The other me ( let me call her Heather, which was the name they didn't give me ), may well have died of whooping cough. I caught it every year which was why they decided to move to a warmer climate.
Assuming Heather hadn't died, what next? She wouldn't have had the pleasure of learning this poem, composed ex tempore by her dad:
This New Years Day of fifty five
We're certainly glad to be alive.
We'll pack our bags at the end of May
And go on board the Oronsay.
This biggest, newest, fastest ship
Will take us on a lovely trip
Across the ocean far and wide,
And deposit us in Adel-ide.
Yes, you must pronounce Adelaide wrongly for it to rhyme, and this is what makes it so delicious. To have learned this poetic lesson at the age of five is a privilege Heather will never know.
Heather grew up to be a studious girl and went to Oxford University. Later she became someone who was interested in art history. She worked at the British Museum painstakingly restoring various items, and sometimes at the National Portrait Gallery doing this and that. She was also very talented and produced many delicate and much admired etchings.
As to her personal life I've never thought about it. Thinking about it now I'm thinking : If she had three children they would be half like my three children. I don't like this thought. Nor do I like Heather, very much.
She has had one more summer in her life than me. This is because I left England at the end of May and arrived in Adel-ide in June. The more I think about this the crosser I get.
That's all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
