It’s good to learn something new every day. It keeps us intellectually nimble, while offering us something both precious and too seldom exercised: the opportunity to change our minds. I have enhanced my appreciation of our democratic traditions (and an understanding of just how vulnerable they are). I’ve learned that ‘petrichor’ is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry land. I’ve learned how to find the make, model and date of first registration of any car from its number-plate. I’ve learned that Finkle Street (a name found in many northern towns) just means ‘a street with a bend in it’. I’ve recently found out what ‘dog whistle politics’ means. I discovered that Pontefract’s name comes from the Latin for ‘broken bridge’ (obvious, really). I learned that McDonalds isn’t just a place for clean toilets and free wifi; apparently they make burgers too. And I finally realised that I shouldn’t try to mate outside my own species…
A quiet corner of Cawood...
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