Dear August
Dear August,
You were incredibly hot this year. Even at my little home in the midlands I found myself running for shade when the sun was bearing down on me making sweat run like a waterfall from the peak of my nose. It got even hotter when I went to the coast to work on a dairy farm. That was quite the experience.
The trains down there were terrible and exhausting but instead of the usual non-stop panic I would normally feel from travelling, regardless of whether it was going well, I had moments of just odd calm. I suppose I've started to accept that you can't control life sometimes. It's just taken me 21 years to start seeing that. The placement was hard work but it was enjoyable. I love cows and the sweet personalities they have. People often don't think that animals are that different but they are. Okay, that's generalising a bit. Most people will see that dogs and cats are different and everyone has a tale to tell regardless of whether they own a pet or not. For some reason we don't always think that way about bigger animals. Cows are wonderful to work with and once you realise how they think it gets easier. Not that I am any great cow whisperer because I am not.
Every placement teaches you something new but often people don't realise sometimes the things you learn are also about yourself. When I think back on my time there I think of the glorious brightness, the rolling hills and the picturesque image of cows wandering through fields as the sun sets. Every time I visit a new place I like to recall what it looked like during the day. How fog crept along the grass in the morning, how the sun blazed at midday and how the world reached a calm quiet in the evening.
After my placement I returned home for something exciting.Every time you roll around August you bring with you my friend's birthday. She was 21 this year and by most of society's standards - that's a big one. We went for a wonderful meal at one of her favourite restaurants, Jamie's Italian, but before that we went to play some mini-golf. I had never played mini golf before but I've decided it is equally frustrating and joyful. Who knew one little ball could be so annoying?
With this joy came sadness though. For the past 3 years August you have seen me and my friends meet devotedly during your month before university separated us again. This year my friend's have either graduated and gone into the adult world or headed off to do their masters.This year August you scattered my friends to far fields like dandelion seeds and although I am so very happy for them all I am also sad. Change is still something I struggle with even if it is only the seasons. Everyone is growing up so fast and I find myself wanting to clasp them all in my hands but they are made of water and I can't stop them slipping through my fingers. I realise I sound dramatic August. My friends have not left me! But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the structured chaos of a school day and the calm of meeting in the common room at break.
Hopefully the next time you roll around August they will have all done amazing things and hopefully I will have managed to survive another year of university.
Thank you for listening August.
With love,
Sophie
You were incredibly hot this year. Even at my little home in the midlands I found myself running for shade when the sun was bearing down on me making sweat run like a waterfall from the peak of my nose. It got even hotter when I went to the coast to work on a dairy farm. That was quite the experience.
The trains down there were terrible and exhausting but instead of the usual non-stop panic I would normally feel from travelling, regardless of whether it was going well, I had moments of just odd calm. I suppose I've started to accept that you can't control life sometimes. It's just taken me 21 years to start seeing that. The placement was hard work but it was enjoyable. I love cows and the sweet personalities they have. People often don't think that animals are that different but they are. Okay, that's generalising a bit. Most people will see that dogs and cats are different and everyone has a tale to tell regardless of whether they own a pet or not. For some reason we don't always think that way about bigger animals. Cows are wonderful to work with and once you realise how they think it gets easier. Not that I am any great cow whisperer because I am not.
Every placement teaches you something new but often people don't realise sometimes the things you learn are also about yourself. When I think back on my time there I think of the glorious brightness, the rolling hills and the picturesque image of cows wandering through fields as the sun sets. Every time I visit a new place I like to recall what it looked like during the day. How fog crept along the grass in the morning, how the sun blazed at midday and how the world reached a calm quiet in the evening.
After my placement I returned home for something exciting.Every time you roll around August you bring with you my friend's birthday. She was 21 this year and by most of society's standards - that's a big one. We went for a wonderful meal at one of her favourite restaurants, Jamie's Italian, but before that we went to play some mini-golf. I had never played mini golf before but I've decided it is equally frustrating and joyful. Who knew one little ball could be so annoying?
With this joy came sadness though. For the past 3 years August you have seen me and my friends meet devotedly during your month before university separated us again. This year my friend's have either graduated and gone into the adult world or headed off to do their masters.This year August you scattered my friends to far fields like dandelion seeds and although I am so very happy for them all I am also sad. Change is still something I struggle with even if it is only the seasons. Everyone is growing up so fast and I find myself wanting to clasp them all in my hands but they are made of water and I can't stop them slipping through my fingers. I realise I sound dramatic August. My friends have not left me! But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the structured chaos of a school day and the calm of meeting in the common room at break.
Hopefully the next time you roll around August they will have all done amazing things and hopefully I will have managed to survive another year of university.
Thank you for listening August.
With love,
Sophie
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