Lying on a rug under a tree
Today I lay on a rug under a tree. It was a huge sycamore which stands in the boundary hedge of our field. The sun was so hot I was driven off the garden and into the shade where the grass was cool. I dug an old check rug out of the bakehouse where we keep outside things for the holiday cottage and spread it out. I brought out my book and a big glass of elderflower cordial and lay down and looked up into the tree. It soared above me like a huge green cathedral. When did I stop lying down on a rug in the garden? When I was a child I loved eating outside and a cheese sandwich, a packet of crisps and an apple was immediately transformed into a picnic by eating on a rug. As a teenager I spent hours lying in the sun, seeking the perfect tan. I remember trying to revise for my A levels on a rug in the garden and eventually giving up as I squinted in the sun and my papers blew about in the breeze and snoozing for half an hour before going rel...