Figgy Logic

A meeting of minds prompts some garden-variety philosophising.

Recently, I met up with a group of my one-time design students, some of whom I haven’t seen for more than a decade. One of them, a young woman now possessed of a slightly intimidating style, albeit evolved from her younger self, gave me initial cause to worry as she sat next to me at the end of a long table. What might we talk about after the initial enquiries into health, current occupation and location? Of course, we could have revelled in ‘remember when’ but since we weren’t in the same class – instead I was her teacher – that dynamic was a slightly challenging one for a Sunday afternoon at the pub. I needn’t have worried. Our conversation quickly and naturally segued into what was really top of both of our minds on a summer day: our gardens. We got talking about fig trees – of which we are both fans – and then the wider topic of gardens. I settled into a relaxed afternoon.