TEMPO GIUSTO

Louise lent me this most interesting book by a Canadian author, Carl Honoré. He is from Edmonton and has a website here . The book is here on Amazon.

It is all about the Slow Movement taking place on a global scale. It started with the Slow Food Movement in Italy some years ago where a group of local people made a feature of their home-grown, home-made dishes. Basically, this (earliest) movement arose as an antidote to the Fast Food that permeates every corner of the world now.

This author shows how everything is becoming more hurried; we live in a culture of speed. We all know the manifestations!

As someone who is guilty of clock-watching and rushing around like there is no tomorrow (particularly when it is not necessary!) I am mindful that it is a Good Idea to SLOW DOWN! The Slow Movement is not about operating at a snail's pace, just doing things less hectically. It is about striking a balance. They use the term Tempo Giusto meaning 'at the right speed'.

One way to do this is sit in the garden. Here is Anne in her garden down by St Germains Loch. I joined her on a perfect afternoon where we simply sat and drank tea and watched the coots and moorhens scrabble along the water's edge.

Under the heading of Work (or should that be Leisure?) I think the Apple Mac people have got things about right.

This is a photo I took of a sales assistant in the Apple Store on Buchanan Street, Glasgow. (I was buying an iPhone and this was a test of the phone's clever camera!) All the staff wear these T-shirts. I find the sales assistants most patient and helpful whenever I wander in with my list of questions. I am sure they get lots of business because they practice what the logo on their T-shirt says: "I could talk about this stuff for hours"!!