Originally posted on Unwrapping The World:
Our children leave home messily. That’s not to say they leave a mess – my son has just driven off leaving a perfectly tidy and very empty bedroom, plus a couple of old computers to take to the tip. He has packed all of his essentials into a small…
Category: Being Human
Notice to quit – the sense of an ending
Leaving a job is rarely a comfortable experience and is usually accompanied by a mix of emotions. My oldest son was talking to me about this last night. We are both in the process of leaving our current employments. He is half way through his four weeks’ notice period. Then he has a better job…
Turkish Delights – Day Seven : Wire-walking around the Pool
Words spin into conversations. Conversations weave into relationships. Relationships embroider into friendships or even life partnerships. But we have to start – with a few words. Every book, every play, every story, has an opening line. We have been thrown together with four other families – randomly – around a pool. Such is the fate…
Turkish Delights – Day Four : Crime and Reports of Crime
We returned to the police station with TJ – a man who could speak both languages. The station was far busier than yesterday, with lots of people milling around the lobby area. Several young men had head injuries and another had blood all over his shirt. There were lots of animated conversations. In England we…
Turkish Delights – Day Three: Crime and Nourishment
“We’ve been robbed” came the shout from downstairs. We were watching a DVD upstairs in the main living area of our villa. My wife had gone downstairs to check the washing at the same time as my daughter’s boyfriend had gone down to find a lead. She had gone into our son’s bedroom which opens…
St Pancras People Watching
I am sat at a table outside “Searcyss Grand” restaurant, on the top deck of the rather magnificent St Pancras station in London. Opposite me is their champagne bar. Over here, two courses for £20 and house glass of wine. Over there, cheap snacks with expensive champagne. They have both ends of the food-drink continuum…
Advice for a brand new Uncle
My nephew has just become an uncle. He is now Uncle Ben and I am sure he will rice to the occasion. Terrible puns, by the way, are a staple diet for an uncle. My sister begat Ben’s brother, who has just begotten his first son. So here I am – an uncle to an…
I hate Manchester United. But I love Paul Scholes. So help me.
I am agonising on the horns of an impossible dilemma. Paul Scholes, a (deep breath) Manchester United is about to play his final game. I really hate Manchester United, but I seem to love Paul Scholes. Do I weep or do I celebrate? How do I process this awful dichotomy? My mind is torn, my…
Daybreak
In silent peace and cool darkness All nature sleeps Whilst I, alone and content Bathe in the calm stillness Before the sunrise.Clarity and beauty Decorate the caverns of my mind Without the noise of other beings This world is mine And all that is in it. Encapsulate the moment Then, welcome the yellow-grey dawn And…
A Bike Journey Too Far ?
The plan was sound. I needed to get home from Derby Station and my wife – my usual taxi-driver – was going to be in away Lancaster. I would take a train home from Southampton and cycle home. The journey was only 18 miles on good cycle routes and relatively flat. I would get my…
Unwrapping The World 