The Spiral of the Eighth Day
December 8, 2024 No CommentsMain image by Alexia François on Unsplash 8th December 2024 Numbers and dates call out to me, loudly and persistently. I remember birthdays, anniversaries, death dates, and the intricate patterns that weave through them. Today is 8th December 2024—a day with resonance all of its own. It marks a cousin’s 60th birthday and a friend’s […]
Read MoreGrief: A Lifelong Journey
December 8, 2024 8 Comments18 November 2024 Main image by K Mitch Hodge on Unsplash I have been invited to write a short piece on Grief. Short? Seriously?? I can’t do “Short” when it comes to this topic. The piece I submit is likely to get well amputated, so here I am placing, with love and tenderness, my full […]
Read MorePresencing Missing Children
December 8, 2024 2 CommentsMain image by Antonio Piña on Unsplash 7th November 2024 There are differing scales of momentousness—if that is even a word. There is the kind that reverberates across the planet, affecting all species, all generations, present and future (think: the outcome of a recent presidential election). And then there is the kind that ripples out […]
Read MoreThe Ongoing Ripples of Childhood Friendships
December 8, 2024 4 CommentsWritten 20 October, posted 27 October 2024 1974, Class of 3rd Primary, European School Brussels I. Photo credits: school photographer. (Approval gained from all those in the photo I am still in touch with, and with all names mentioned in the text below. Gracious thanks to you all for your rich contributions, friendship and trust). […]
Read MoreAbnormally Normal, Normally Abnormal
December 8, 2024 1 CommentImage by Roger Chapman on Unsplash 17 October 2024 Today, home feels like home. Again. It feels weird—and lovely. Soothing, even. There’s something surreal about having my two eldest children back in the house at a time other than Christmas. For so long, it’s just been me, Black the dog, and Silver the cat—our once […]
Read MoreMedjool’s Conversation with Gaia
December 8, 2024 1 CommentImage by DALL.E and photo by me Written by Medjool during August 2024, posted here on 5 October 2024. Translated and shortened from the French original which was rather more beautiful and poetic. (As always, posts on my psychedelic experiences (in this experience I was a co-sitter, not a participant), I am not advocating their […]
Read MoreAnd Julia?
December 8, 2024 2 CommentsPhotos taken by friends 3 October 2024 Yesterday I caught up with a friend-former colleague, John C. We go back somewhere between 15-20 years and have both professional and sports-leisure interests in common – so there is always plenty to talk about. His sporting endeavours have always been about five notches (on a scale of […]
Read MoreCall Me By My Loves
December 8, 2024 2 CommentsImage by Omer Salom on Unsplash 2 October 2024 It still happens. That in a moment, here or there, at home or up high in mountain ranges, somewhere I feel particularly safe and relaxed, that I call out to Medjool using Mike’s name. “Mike?” I say, or perhaps, “hey, Mike!”, or simply “Mike”. I catch […]
Read MoreEquinoxal Menopause
December 8, 2024 4 Comments22nd September 2024 All photos my own, taken yesterday or today Today, 22nd September 2024, I am “officially” menopaused, which means that it has been exactly a year since the first day of my last period. Yesterday I was still peri-menopausal, and tomorrow I will be post-menopausal. “Menopause”, technically, is a very brief thing, even […]
Read MoreLove and Light – though not in a corny way
December 8, 2024 No CommentsImages coaxed out of DALL.E 31 August 2024 Sometimes – (quite often, actually) – my blog post writing comes about because of a specific, one-off experience. A major – or minor – thing happens, and I write about it. It could be a dream or nightmare, a conversation I have just had with someone, and […]
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