Climbing the next door neighbour’s mulberry tree to raid the ripest, darkest fruit is as indelibly printed on my memory as those mulberry juices were on most of my childhood T-shirts. Climbing trees is one of those basic pleasures that seems to have fallen away in favour of more fine-motor, plug-in pursuits. For our story on 18 Forgotten Life Skills, starting on page 76, the HealthSmart team came up with a long list of old-school talents that, we all agree, should be rediscovered. From treating childhood fevers to baking a cake from scratch, the art of letter writing to dancing cheek to cheek, it’s time to re master a few basics and get back to having fun the old fashioned way.

 

Perhaps another symptom of our over-thought lives is that a growing number of us are harbouring some kind of irrational fear or phobia. Okay, the spider thing is understandable. I’m not sure that arachnophobia is entirely irrational, but fear of frogs, clowns, teddy bears and pointy objects is a little harder to justify. In Fears & Phobias, on page 92, we not only demystify many of the triggers for our phobic behaviours but offer some rational approaches to overcoming them.

 

Finally, in celebration of summer approaching, we’ve assembled a spectacular stack of the tastiest (and least naughty) ice-creams which, we recommend, are best enjoyed sitting in the bough of a tree.

 

Simple, really.