I’m just back from the Cevennes. On the long drive down, over three leisurely days, we read to each other from the kindle, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels With a Donkey. … read more →
Just in from gardening, tackling the massively overgrown rockery at the front of the house, pruning what wisteria I can reach, and greeting neighbours. It’s Saturday and a steady procession… read more →
Eternity is a very long time – especially towards the end, quipped Woody Allen – possibly quoting other sources. I regularly attend a Zen group that is part of the Wild Goose sangha… read more →
The photo is of a huge pile of socks. I’ve been on holiday for 10 days: first in Northumberland, hiking the coast, seeing Holy Island and a hill fort or two… read more →
A friend emailed me saying she was feeling a bit overwhelmed. Her new book was out, a big launch party was planned and there were all the routine pressures of… read more →
Here’s a poem I’ve always enjoyed by Thomas Lux. It came to mind as I’ve woken early again, partly due to midlife insomnia and partly the ‘goddamn birds singing’ . … read more →
What a beautiful day. Ash Wednesday came and woke me early with the beginnings of a dawn chorus. I rode my bike to the cathedral – a mile away downhill,… read more →
February was an eventful month, in the world and for me personally with extreme weather events, both inside and out. There wasn’t actually Snow but I drove from Kent to Cornwall through… read more →
I saw the film Nebraska last week. It was superb, beautifully shot in grainy black and white, with wonderful acting and a plaintive score by Mark Orton. What’s it about? An elderly… read more →
Here is one of my favourite poems by Jane Hirshfield – Three Times The World Has Opened It has many striking images and ideas but the reason I am drawn to… read more →