A Lot of Stuff

I went to some fancy estate. There was a lot of stuff going on.

Today, was Saturday. The sun was out, the sky mainly blue. It was still cold outside, but if you caught yourself in the sunlight it was warm enough.

Pippa and I decided to go out. We went to this big estate – you know, the ones built by some lord of something two-hundred years ago just to impress the queen. The estate had a big palace on it, all built in white and grey stone. It had these scenes sculpted into it, I’m sure they’re from some famous myth or legend, but I didn’t know what they were. They were still cool though.

The gardens of the estate were massive. Took us near on the whole day just to get around them all. It was a landscape garden, so there were no flowers. I’m not sure what a landscape garden is, I just read it on the tourist information sign. I know now that they have no flowers. Just lots of grass, trees, lakes and bridges. They’re really cool. They also have a lot of ducks, well, this one did anyway.

Not only did the gardens have a lot of stuff in them, they had a lot of stuff going on. They had a cafe with your typical English cafe food and drink. You know, tea, scones, sausage rolls – that kind of thing. All sorts of people were there eating. They also had a bookshop full of secondhand books. Some of them were really old. All leather bound, with shiny golden letters and fragile pages. I bought one of course; Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, it was only five pound! Absolute steal.

There was more going on than just that, there was this lacrosse tournament happening, with all these teams competing. There was shouting and cheering, loss and disappointment, victory and smiles. I had no idea what the rules were, but I watched for a bit. It was pretty thrilling when one of the players got near the goal.

There was also some kind of elite boarding school on site. There were all these schoolkids roaming the grounds. Just having fun with their mates and stuff. I’m pretty sure you have to pay more than the average person’s salary each year just to enroll your kid. What a crazy start to life that must be.

The gardens were so beautiful and well kept. It got me thinking about all the gardeners that must be employed there, and what their lifestyles are like. Getting to get out there, in sunshine, in cold, in rain and in snow. Out in the world, making a living, crafting a beautiful garden. Must be cool.

It made me wonder about how many different lives there are out there. All doing different things from me, some similar, some vastly different. I wish I could do them all. Live a lifetime as a professional sportsman, as a gardener, a family man, a musician, an architect, an actor, an artist, a politician… Well actually – not a politician. I guess I don’t want to do literally everything. But, there are so many interesting things out there.

Alas, I cannot do them all. There’s just a lot of stuff out there in the world. For now, I’ll just try writing.