For over forty years I’ve been writing odes about people, places, and experiences in my life. My career in education has been amazing and at times intense, but I managed to escape to hobbies and interests and always attempted to summarise in the form of an ode. These were all placed in boxes and stored away until now. When I retired from teaching, I opened the boxes and read through the odes. They were almost like a diary of my life so far. I’ve selected 21 odes for this collection. They are about friends, holiday experiences, hobbies and sometimes things that happened in my school life. My favourite is The Fly Sermon. I wrote it 36 years ago for children to recite in their assembly about tolerance for others and non-discrimination. The theme is as important now as it was then. Our life is surrounded with all sorts of living things, which we should respect and learn to live with, regardless of quirks, traits, or physical features. I’ll remember whenever a fly I do see, The importance of living in close harmony.