I sauntered through that summer in England.

It’s hard to stay inside and work in the summer in England in the months from June to September with the light bright mornings, and the changing display of the countryside.

Jamie told me to buy a new computer and advised me to get a MacBook Pro. I learned how to use it from a site called Lynda.com.

Jamie is going to work for Amazon which is very exciting.

I also bought two new cameras, a Nikon S8000, which I carry with me everywhere, and a Nikon D5000 with two zoom lenses. Both models were being replaced and I got a good price.

I took pictures of village activities and made slide shows of the summer fete in August and the opening of the new playground in September. Parents love to see pictures of their children.

I learned how to use IPhoto and made slide shows for them.

Things have certainly changed.

No more competitions for the biggest onion and the perfect bunch of radishes in a big marquee, with country dancing later and an early morning church service in the tent the next day.

Now it is all about inflatables, the blue, red and yellow assault course, the slide with Harry Potter graphics, the pole joust with big fat pillows, the wrestling in sumo suits and the giggle mirror.

There was a hog roast and a tug of war competition. That was a big success.

I helped with the skittles.

I think of that summer as a shimmer of light airy chat while we put up tents or packed them away, dusky evenings with wine bottles in a garden, new acquaintances, laughter, baskets of apples or runner beans left at the gates of houses.

Now it is autumn. The trees on the hillside above our village are losing their bloom. They seem like spectators who have turned their backs on the show to confer among themselves.

But soon the west winds will rip through, their leaves will be stripped, and only woody skeletons will remain – until the audience reassembles next year to watch spring and summer events in the valley below.

In a few weeks I am going to America.