1st July 2025
…and the hottest day of the year so far, and indeed for many years. Even in Devon it is in the high 20s. Drove out this evening for a walk in the shade of a woodland where the temperature was down to 22 C. The bluebell wood in summer had remains of the dead bells and was awash with a multitude of green hues.
For me, June was a catching up month from the combined excitement and effort involved in organising a big birthday bash to celebrate Sir Norman Lockyer, swiftly followed by my successful book launch. I am now receiving notification of royalties and have received the first payments into my bank account. Will I recoup the outlay soon? Not at the rate I am spending! A new laptop is needed. New phone. Many repairs to the house. New clothes. A holiday has been paid for. Then there is the car. Insurance is due this month. Household bills have gone up. And so it goes on.
On the positive side, I am beginning to enjoy not having to go out to work in the summer heat. I can pace my tasks according to the temperature outside. My big archive project is growing but I now have support from the archivist at the University of Exeter who has given me practical ideas, links for funding, and will act as a professional adviser. My idea for a new book about the life and times of Sir Norman Lockyer is taking shape and excites me because I was not interested in science particularly at school but if I had known a real person had designed the Bunsen Burner…I may have taken more note. I hope to inspire other people to learn more about things we take for granted and to link science and history. I love learning about the people behind ideas. My educational background is not good enough to understand a lot of science though. I do enjoy learning about the moon’s complex orbit and the solar system.
As we are now at the end of the week…I may as well include a note about a delicious dip in the sea followed the next day by a walk along the cliff top. The sea was not cold and soon felt warm although I still experienced that wonderful tingly feeling on leaving the water. Well worth the effort of lugging a couple of bags of supplies and towels and pop-up tent. The trip to the beach followed a relaxing hour listening to folk duo, Solarferance, in a sunny tea garden.
Having done a little bit of work in the NLO archives and a lot of chatting, I enjoyed a packed lunch in the nearby woodland followed by a walk through the shady woodlands, and back via the cliff top. The sea was Mediterranean blue with a matching blue sky. Idyllic! I then sat in the shade with a magazine while also spotting the rusty tail of a redstart.
Karen Hedges 