Penguins

The other night I was driving home from a rehearsal in town. We are now rehearsing for Carmina Burana and I was very tired and a bit cold, and thinking about my bed and my pile of library books waiting for me. Our little town is beautifully lit up at night with twinkling lights strung up in the plane trees along the main street and my eye caught the reflection of a blaze of orange in the bookshop window..

This morning I went in to have a look at all the penguins that were being promoted this week.

It brought back a nostalgic memory, as a small child I remember my parents and Aunts and Uncles reading these much loved books.

English seaside summers, flasks of tea and fruitcake, my Grandad burying threepenny bits in the sand for me to dig up, polo mints, tiny Union Jack flags for the sandcastles, Punch and Judy shows, deck chairs, white hairy legs with the trouser cuffs rolled up, orange penguin books ( with NO pictures) stuffed into bags with knitting and warm cardigans, and hankies, oh, and the slightly sicky smell of the inside of our Morris Oxford on the way home.

They first came into being in 1935 and sold for sixpence each. Read all about their early beginnings on Wikipedia.

Of course I couldn't go into my favourite bookshop and come out empty handed and I chose this beautiful classic.

I thought it was a very good buy at $12.95 and I was given a bag to carry it home in. How lucky was that!
I've always loved penguins.