Fate

Growing up, village fetes and church fetes were anathema to me. But I've been to a couple over the past couple of years and quite enjoyed them. This is surprising to me. At first I thought it was because of having kids now, and anything you can do with them that doesn't involve screaming and fighting can be a relief.
But the one we went to on Saturday, Didi wasn't feeling very well, so she didn't exactly sparkle.

It was only small, in a vicarage garden, and it rained, so we cut it short. There was a brass band, and a tea-and-scones tent, and a bouncy castle, and a tombola. And a second hand book stall. There were things to do, like wooden skittles and quoits, and kicking a ball into a hole. It was all good fun, and in spite of my hereditary anhedonia, I found myself relaxing and kind of enjoying myself.

And I thought, it's not because I'm getting older, and it's not that I've got kids - it's simply because when I did this kind of thing as a youngster, it was with my mum - and she was always miserable, so we were all always miserable. Which probably means anhedonia, in my case, is a learned behaviour, not genetic.

So, late in the day, I lighten up.