Of Chimney Sweeps and Other Urchins

Derrick Knight's recent post on child labour and chimney sweeps prompted me to re-read my copy of Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies. I must have been around eleven when I last read this book. We didn't have television, and I didn't have a sibling near my age, so I was a voracious reader. Books were precious to me. …

First Love Nostalgia

The subject of first loves came up this week.  For some, these memories date back sixty years.  From that distance, we can laugh at ourselves for the intensity of our emotion over something that was completely innocent.  At the same time, we feel a sense of nostalgia for those innocent times, to be able to approach love …