At last

Why is it that the last set of papers to be marked is always the one which drains energy and resolve? After a positive start the marking stretched on and on with ever new pages of virgin print revealing themselves to my rapidly drying pen.

But the message from one morning assembly that told the story of a king who demanded a ring with a special inscription stays with me. He wanted a ring with an inscription which he could read when he was happy and it would make him thoughtful and if he read it when he was sad would give him hope. This seeming contradiction and impossibility was resolved by the final inscription which read “This too must pass.” This is not only clever but actually useful, as I have often thought of it, and indeed said it, on many occasions.

Especially when marking. Such thoughts are sometimes the only barrier against despair!

The countdown to the holidays continues and by god the days are dragging.

I seem to have seen more than my fair share of football over the past few weeks: not only is the league winding its way through the weeks but we are presented with the added ‘delight’ of seemingly endless games in the Champions’ League. As a ‘born again’ Barça fan, I do of course take a passing interest in what is going on in each game. I also have a residual patriotism for the British teams that are left in the competition – though the British composition of the teams is hardly the most striking aspect of their international line up! But there are so many games.

The most interesting aspect of football in Spain, and especially Catalonia, is the tribal aspect which is only softly developed by comparison in Britain.

I delight in talking to Real Madrid and Barça fans and am always fascinated to see how far they will go in deriding their opponents. They also leave the die-hard conspiracy theorists far behind in their explanations for how each game has been decided! Never have I heard such blatant prejudice masquerade under the guise of well argued evaluation!

Tomorrow the bike must be used again. I passed it this evening and it looked positively resentful as I marched past and put a cup of tea before the exhilaration of littoral exercise. But not for two days running!