Just over a week ago we took our grandchildren strawberry picking at Scaddows Farm, a few miles from us. We arrived soon after they opened and followed the well organised Covid-19 precautions, including hand sanitising upon entry. When we reached the fields it was clear that after weeks of ‘home schooling’ many young families were enjoying a morning outdoors. You could almost see the relief on the faces of parents and children alike. And who could blame them? What better classroom than this?

I left this post as a draft, hoping to find a suitable quote about strawberries, but surprisingly nothing came along, even with the help, or lack of help, from google. (If you find one please feel free to comment). Then out of the blue Suzette at Suzette B’s blog posted the quote ‘Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher’ by William Wordsworth.

I searched the quote and discovered that it’s from The Tables Turned. I always need help interpreting poetry so I found a useful analysis of it. Basically Wordsworth is saying don’t double in size by sitting at a desk pouring over boring books. Get outside and look and listen. Nature is full of wealth and wisdom. You can learn more about humanity, good and evil from a tree than from a sage. Go out, ready to learn with “a heart that watches and receives”.

By the way, the strawberries tasted as good as they looked!

The Tables Turned by William Wordsworth