Thursday, January 05, 2006

Gnawed apple 2, table, digger

The plump, red apple that fell out of a wheely bin after Christmas, is now no more than a thin, concave portion of skin . You can see tiny teeth marks on the remaining pieces of white flesh, which cling to the inside of the skin. But there is no other sign of the eater. By tomorrow, there will be only a stain on the ground, if that.

Children probably still have tables to learn, though teaching methods have changed, and the tables will certainly be different. I can still remember, for example: 12 inches =1 foot, three feet = 1 yard; 51/2 yards = one rod, pole or perch; 1760 yard = 1 mile. Now I realize that it is time for me to learn another table, which I sort of know, but need to remind myself of: 8 bits = 1 byte; 1024 bytes = 1 kilobyte; 1024 kilobytes = 1 megabyte; 1024 megabytes = 1 gigabyte.

They are making slow progress with the restoration of the paths in the Grove. I like to watch the small mechanical digger raising and lowering its arm and curling its scoop, as, like a little elephant, it scoops up turf and stones from the edges and drops them into a skip.

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