Thursday 7 April 2016

Henry and me





I am not sure
why I have
a signed photograph
of Henry Moore.

(I found it in my box of ephemera.)

We met his Reclining Mother and Child
on our last visit to Kew.


On an unrelated matter.
How can I possibly be
62?


Perhaps I should now read War and Peace
as Mary Hobson did.
So moved was she, that she started to learn Russian 
while convalescing age 56, so that she could read the original 
and then enrolled at the University of London at age 62
and completed her PhD aged 74.
She won the Pushkin Gold Medal for translation.

Oh and she is now at 89 in training for a 5km run.

18 comments:

  1. Wishing you a very happy birthday (I'm assuming it is, unless that's just a random thought?!) It's always quite a surprise when the actual number doesn't match the inside-the-head number isn't it. Hope you have a wonderful day. CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. A very Happy Birthday to you, dear Lucille! As I recall it, 62 was a grand age, and as I now realize, any age can be a grand age.
    How mysterious to have an autographed H. Moore photograph.
    I smiled at your report on Mary Hobson's taking up Russian, as she wished to read War and Peace in the original language. I studied Russian as a 19 year old with the same goal. That goal still eludes me....
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. That sounds like an excellent plan! Sixty two is two years less than me, so not at all old - Happy Birthday (if that is what it is).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank God I have no great ambitions, I just get to putter and that suits me fine.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Birthday ! One's 60s have a lot to recommend them , I find , and yes, a project is always a good idea .
    Mind you as I slide towards 69 , this year's project is setting up the Underachiever of the Year Award ... if I can manage it .

    ReplyDelete
  6. my mama started Russian at 60.
    Happy birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. A signed sculpture would be better I suppose :-) but even a portrait might take you for another wonderful journey abroad. No?
    I remember his sculptures at RHS Wisley, making up for their scandalously depleted rose garden.
    One of them had a hole through which you could also see the sky focused so nicely.
    Where are the candles, may I ask?
    joanna - uk

    ReplyDelete
  8. 62 is no age. I, on the other hand seem to be sliding into septuagenarianism (!). I don't think this was supposed to happen.

    Happy Birthday, by the way, I hope you celebrated well?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Birthday! I have it on good authority that 62 is the perfect age to be a grandmother so enjoy every moment.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely post, Lucille, and to deny the fact I turned sixty (how did that happen?) a week ago I took on zip slides and a treetop adventure. Decided I was mad the day before but did enjoy it. So learning russian next, eh? Happy birthday and keep on blogging.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy birthday - I'm going to be 66 soonish so 62 sounds quite enticing. I do like your plates! Mary Hobson sounds like a ridiculous over-achiever so lalalalala. (Impressive, however.)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy (belated) Birthday Lucille. A past post of yours came to mind this morning when I saw this book:
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Wearing-Hats-Helena-Sheffield/dp/0008165297/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460120865&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of++hat
    Hope you managed a party hat at least?!

    ReplyDelete
  13. How that sentiment "how could I possibly be....." resonated. Sometimes I go to choose clothes in a shop, and I hold them up against me and look in the mirror. Then I realize I have chosen for my 23 year old self. Then it hits, this looks ridiculous, I'm 64! ,

    ReplyDelete
  14. I read War and Peace years and years...and years ago. I was not in the least inspired by it. Perhaps, now that I am older and wiser, I should give it another go. At any rate, I was most inspired by your recounting of Mary Hobson's accomplishments and feel that you have given me a gift for your birthday.

    Hope yours was blessed.

    ReplyDelete
  15. To my mind, you are my utterly ageless comrade in arms, but happy belated birthday nonetheless.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Inspiring to know that there are so many accomplishments possible at any age. Belated happy birthday x

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mary Hobson shows that age is no barrier. I like her attitude. I also like that you caught the plane in your photo of Henry Moore's sculpture. It could almost be a thought bubble.

    ReplyDelete