The Byzantine emperor (610 – 641), Heraclius, is mentioned in James Heneage’s The Shortest History of Greece. True to his title Heraclitus is not.
Heraclitus was a philosopher living in the 6th century BC; even in his own time he was known as ‘the obscure’. This leads me from Ancient Greece to 20th century England and another author with a small output. Kenneth Grahame’s fame lies in his 1908 book for children and adults, The Wind in the Willows. He wrote five other books, one of which I have just ordered: Bertie’s Escapade (1949), illustrated by E. H. Shepard. I do not have great expectations, nor is this introductory digression going to lead to Charles Dickens.
‘Though Heraclitus’s sayings and writings are exiguous he is credited with this cracker: no man ever steps in the same river twice. Walking along the riverbank this morning I saw the young black poplar saplings, planted in 2021, flourishing. But no man ever steps on the same riverbank twice and I saw new green stuff.
First a “garden” outside the Riverside Studios on a disused slipway down to the Thames created by Seth el Shaddai.
And two other green initiatives.
