I Still Can’t Much Do Groups
April 20, 2024 1 CommentMain image by Duy Pham on Unsplash 15 May 2022 I am coming to the end of a lovely short week’s holiday in Mallorca, taking part in an open water swimming camp, geared around being able to swim 10km in “event” (if not “race”) conditions. All meant to be prep for my “big 13 km […]
Read MoreDeeply, Genuinely Happy
April 20, 2024 No CommentsMain image by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash 9 May 2022 (and Medjool’s birthday) It’s not the kind of thing that we go around saying, is it? At least not the Brits. At least not most Western Europeans. And at least not on a regular, ongoing basis. Sure – we hear people say it, we might […]
Read MoreHumdrum and Bittersweet
April 20, 2024 4 CommentsMain image by Robin Lyon on Unsplash. Other photos my own. 1 May 2022 (My Granny May’s birthday – 1/5/1909 – Happy birthday Granny) As I reflect on what to write about this weekend – which is what I do when nothing immediately springs out at me – it’s about how used I have become […]
Read MoreBirthdays and Earth Days
April 20, 2024 1 CommentMain image by Casey Horner on Unsplash. Other pictures my own, unless stated 24 April 2022 I don’t know why it is, but I have always felt I have disproportionately more Aries, Taurus and Gemini friends than from other parts of the year. Even if my childhood bestie was none of these. Nor was Mike. […]
Read MoreForever Young
April 20, 2024 No CommentsMain image by Angello Pro on Unsplash 17 April 2021 Today is not only Easter Day. It’s also our lovely Megan’s 21st birthday. Her sixth birthday without her father. Her 16th birthday was just nine days after her dad died. Finding a date for Mike’s funeral in 2017 was so very hard. There is a […]
Read MoreFive Years, Five Minutes, Five Decades
April 20, 2024 1 Comment8th April 2022 My Sweet Mystery (*) Today is five years since you died. In that time, there have been so many difficult, painful, traumatic events. Exacerbating your not-here-ness. The things I would have to catch you up on. Though I presume you know it all anyway, and are shaking your head in disbelief. Wars […]
Read MoreGrief Analysis At The Cinema
April 20, 2024 3 CommentsImage by Kyle Head on Unsplash 3 April 2022 One of the independent cinemas I go to puts on a wonderful range of premieres, at which any combination of the film director, producer, key actors, etc, are present during and afterwards for reflection and discussion. I love it. The two people from the cinema who […]
Read MoreAnd now you are 18
April 20, 2024 No CommentsMain image by Ed Robertson on Unsplash 30th March 2022 Sweet Julia Grace And now you are 18. Even though you are also forever 15. I gave birth to you 18 years ago today, 30th March 2004, at 5 am. This morning I was awake at that time, thinking of you. Always missing you. Still […]
Read MoreHomesickness
April 20, 2024 No CommentsMain image by Ihor Oinua on Unsplash 28th March 2022 In English, when we miss our homeland, we say, “I feel homesick”. In French, when we miss our homeland, we say, “J’ai le mal du pays”. Close enough, but not quite the same. Taken literally, the English version seems just to be about missing one’s […]
Read MoreThe Miracle of Quality Listening
April 20, 2024 1 CommentImage by Sammy Williams on Unsplash 20 March 2022 COVID restrictions are falling away, even in France, which means that I am going out a bit more. This week I had four sorties mid-week – a wine-bar near my home, a premiere at the cinema with Medjool and his daughters, a goodish walk in the […]
Read More