"All the details they leave out...”

I. Water Beetle

I'm reading Turtle Diary (1975) by Russell Hoban--slowly, but too fast. This morning, halfway through I started reading again at the beginning.
I laughed out loud at this, on page 9.

The character Neala H. writes:

“I fancied a china castle for the aquarium but they had none at the shop, so I contented myself with a smart plastic shipwreck. Snugg & Sharpe are expecting a new Gillian Vole story from me but I have not got another furry-animal picnic or birthday party in me.
I am tired of meek and cuddly creatures, my next book will be about a predator. I’ve posted my cheque for 31p to Gerrard & Haig in Surrey for a Great Water Beetle, and I should have it by tomorrow.
…

Here I am, I thought, forty-three years old, waiting for a water-beetle. My married friends wear Laura Ashley dresses and in their houses are grainy photographs of them barefoot on Continental beaches with their naked children.
I live alone, wear odds and ends….”

________________

The story is set in middle-aged loneliness.

The other character, William G., works in a book shop. They do not know each other. Independently, both have become concerned with the captive sea turtles at the zoo.

When Neala goes to the bookstore to find out about sea turtles, he doesn't welcome the intrusion.

"It was the sort of situation that would be ever so charming and warmly human in a film with Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith but that sort of film is only charming because they leave out so many details, and real life is all the details they leave out."

(In fact, in the 80s it was made into a film with Ben Kingsley and Glenda Jackson. I haven't seen it.)
_________________________
II. Bowling

My class was part of an outing to a bowling alley yesterday, hosted by the Unified program. Unified Schools are a program from Special Olympics "to build inclusive school communities for young people of all abilities."

It was the opposite of the museum visit, which was carefully planned.
I don't think the students minded the chaos.

I look like I'm having fun, but I don't like bowling (boring and loud), and I was cranky because the neurotypical (NT) kids didn't mingle much with the neurodiverse (ND) kids. Poor planning.
But then I remembered:
the ND students prefer to hang out with one another mostly, anyway.

I'd even had this conversation with a gym teacher who 'd said we should discourage the students' special interests so they could "make friends in gen-ed" (general education kids, vs special ed).

"Why?" I'd said. "They LOVE their interests––what kind of friendship would it be without them?"

Anyway, bowling wasn't my thing–– but the students had fun.