Where is your cool swimming pool? I love to swim alone in an outdoor pool. I was in one today, cool, fresh and all by myself. It is refreshing and liberating. The water gently enveloping and supporting me as I glide effortlessly through it. Just an easy breast stroke, my head above the surface, my…
Open for Business – whenever?
This is the sign on the door of the Tea, Toast & Post in Robin Hoods Bay. I thought it was a joke, until I turned up on Monday morning to find it closed, with no sign of life. It was an “aren’t here at all” day. Fortunately, I stumbled on The Cove and indulged…
Don’t just Do Something
Sometimes doing nothing is the best option. We live in a modern world which is action focused. We have targets and goals, task lists and action plans. Everyone has a change agenda. We have to be busy doing something if we want to move forward. But sometimes the best way to move forward, is to…
The Jigsaw of Life
Life is a jigsaw without a picture. We pick up one piece at a time and try to place it. A thought, a decision, a task, a conversation. Connecting pieces together in an attempt to make something coherent. I’m doing one – a jigsaw, that is – without a picture. It’s some sort of Sherlock…
Living with Covid (apart)
I have been literally living with Covid. She is at a safe distance at the other end of the house. We are living separate lives within these four walls. She is confined to the house, whereas I, at least, am allowed out for good behaviour. Paradoxically, my wife has tested positive and has no symptoms.…
Breaking into Bulgaria
—– 1 —– We sat there, not daring to speak. The big man in uniform gave nothing away in his expression or demeanour. He carefully sifted through the documents and papers. Our hearts were racing, but time seemed to stand still. My wife in the back seat was strangely silent. All I could hear was…
Shifting Our Ever Givens
The Suez has finally been unblocked. We all saw the gigantic Ever Given wedged across the canal, stopping 369 other boats from getting through. The impact was enormous – $50bn of goods delayed getting to customers. The alternative route around Africa takes 2 more weeks. We have blockages of our own. Some small, some huge.…
Crashing through walls . . . and connecting
My experience in cardiac ward 28 described how I found brief but very meaningful connection with my fellow inmates. An eye-opening experience, which left me with some questions. What conditions encouraged this? What did I have to do to make it happen? And how can I learn from this experience about connecting in the world of…
Cardiac Ward 28 – Camaraderie and 3am Lunacy
Sometimes we are thrust together with people through no choice of our own, or of theirs. Maybe in a queue, a lift, a waiting room, at a concert or on a plane. Those were the days. Our English default is to remain quiet and to keep our distance – physically and emotionally. To be private,…
Pipe Cleaning My Heart
When I was a boy, my grandad smoked a pipe. To clean it he used a pipe cleaner; around six inches of flexible wire encased in fluffy cotton. My sister and I would make intricate models out of them. Similar, larger pipe cleaners are used to clean sinks and drains. Whatever the size, pipe cleaners…
Unwrapping The World 