Have you ever tried to stick a sycamore seed head across the bridge of your nose? I remember doing just that with my best friend at Primary School, in the field that surpassed a tarmac playground. Our little school was such a sweet place; one class for each year and everyone knew one another. Compared to the horror stories you hear nowadays it feels like another planet. Our childhoods we so different back then; innocence reigned and I can't really remember anyone swearing or any sexual references at all. We were children. It was so far removed from the lives that young people are leading today. Personally, the world seems like a terrifying place in 2017; unrelenting, unprotected, fast-paced. All the small scale, local, traditional qualities either seem lost altogether or some kind of trendy nice. Allotmenting, for example, used to be a necessity for some people to grow vegetables but now it almost feels like a hobby and something 'cool' to get into. Knowing your neighbours is a thing of the past, maybe you know next door but could you name the whole street or would you give them a wave and smile and exchange pleasantries if bumping into them at the Post Office?
I can't imagine you get many ten year olds now who would be satisfied to play around outdoors all afternoon and sticking sycamore seeds on their noses.
Sophie
