One thing lead to another

I recently read Volume 6 of Frances Partridge’s Diaries.     

My choice of this book was prompted by the mention of these diaries on a couple of other blogs which I read regularly.  When the name came up in discussion I suddenly remembered that I in fact had Vol. 1 of the Diaries and had read it some time ago and thought very highly of it.  Volume 1 was called A Pacifist’s War and covered the period 1939-45.   Well, practically the same day as reading the references to the diaries I was browsing in one of our favourite 2nd hand book stores and lo and behold there was Vol. 6 of the Diaries.  Of course I had to buy it.

As I read this volume I wasn’t too sure I liked it and I was kind of plodding through it.  I felt maybe I should have read the earlier volumes 2-5 before tackling vol. 6.  Nevertheless I persevered and was richly rewarded.  The final 20 pages or so had many pearls of wisdom.  And then I looked up Frances Partridge on the internet and found that she lived to age 103 and had only died quite recently in 2004.  A fascinating person.  And she only started publishing her diaries when she was age 78.  I feel especially inspired by this as one of the reasons for doing this blog is to “publish” some of the things I have written in the past – and plan to write in the future.   And I’m starting early, compared with Frances Partridge.