I'M A simple thing myself, hence perhaps the bias.
I'M A simple thing myself, hence perhaps the bias.
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by Robert McNeil
But, more generally, I'm prompted to eulogise simple things after a passing experience in the back gairden.
It was morning and, briefly, the grey skies of July parted to admit a cool shade of blue. This was followed by sunshine, just some weak rays, but enough to lift the heart.
Looking upwards, I reflected that, however poor I became, I'd always (in the occasional sense of the word) be able to lift up my face and have blue skies and sunshine, appreciated all the more in Scotia Minor for their rarity.
I noticed recently that, asked to tick choices in a series of "likes", most citizens opted for "the simple things in life".
Of course, they are lying, just as most people say they are ethical but, when it comes to the crunch, put self-interest first.
Still, the gist or pith is that to like simple things is somehow admirable. And it is. Taken at its opposite end, conspicuously sophisticated cuisine is almost always tripe, as it were.
Here are some ingredients for the good life: freshly baked bread; the sound of a stream; the birds and the bees (and whatever the relationship is between these – never understood that analogy, if analogy it be); trees; fruit; soil; a sausage roll.
Many readers will recall the TV series The Good Life, in which Tom gave up his well-paid, pointless job and took to a simple existence based on self-sufficiency.
Behind it was the adage that money can't buy you happiness.
This is incorrect. It can. Or, at least, it can buy you holidays, a less irritating drive, space away from the maddening mob.
But, even with oodles of dosh, the best investment in your soul will still be looking up at a blue sky.
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In praise of - simple things.
I'M A simple thing myself, hence perhaps the bias.
But, more generally, I'm prompted to eulogise simple things after a passing experience in the back gairden.
It was morning and, briefly, the grey skies of July parted to admit a cool shade of blue. This was followed by sunshine, just some weak rays, but enough to lift the heart.
Looking upwards, I reflected that, however poor I became, I'd always (in the occasional sense of the word) be able to lift up my face and have blue skies and sunshine, appreciated all the more in Scotia Minor for their rarity.
I noticed recently that, asked to tick choices in a series of "likes", most citizens opted for "the simple things in life".
Of course, they are lying, just as most people say they are ethical but, when it comes to the crunch, put self-interest first.
Still, the gist or pith is that to like simple things is somehow admirable. And it is. Taken at its opposite end, conspicuously sophisticated cuisine is almost always tripe, as it were.
Here are some ingredients for the good life: freshly baked bread; the sound of a stream; the birds and the bees (and whatever the relationship is between these – never understood that analogy, if analogy it be); trees; fruit; soil; a sausage roll.
Many readers will recall the TV series The Good Life, in which Tom gave up his well-paid, pointless job and took to a simple existence based on self-sufficiency.
Behind it was the adage that money can't buy you happiness.
This is incorrect. It can. Or, at least, it can buy you holidays, a less irritating drive, space away from the maddening mob.
But, even with oodles of dosh, the best investment in your soul will still be looking up at a blue sky.
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We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.
Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.
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