TIME for reflection on this running life. For “reviewing the situation“, as the fiendish Fagin sang in the wonderful film version of Oliver, way back in the 1960s. A need to stop awhile and consider what lies ahead. Like a rambler who has tramped their way steadily to the top of a Dartmoor tor, resting to take in the view while planning the onward route. Whether to take in the next tor, seen faintly in the distance, or opt for the slightly less arduous track defined by contour lines that skirt it at lower levels. A step too far, perhaps,… Continue reading
Lifestyle
AS we hurtle towards F-Day it might pay to heed the news from Australia. If you can find it. So little is ever classed by UK editors as sufficiently noteworthy to be included in their pages. Unless, of course, it is of a bushfires, mouse plagues or shark attacks. Although… Continue reading
Aah . . . the sheer joy, relief, escape, freedom and get-away-from-it-all happiness of a holiday trip. These hordes are lockdown escapees from the Australian state of Victoria queuing to “enjoy” the snowfields, as pictured by the Herald Sun. Yet again I am prompted to wonder what is the sense… Continue reading


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SOMETHING’S not right. I already had my suspicions but chose to ignore them. Now I fear that is no longer possible; recent events have convinced me so. Time to face the fact: incidents of going into another room and not remembering why you did so are commonplace in one’s more senior years. At first, they are mostly dismissed with a chuckle. Silly old me, next I’ll be forgetting my own name. Tut, tut. Not something to be taken seriously; more to have a laugh about with one’s contemporaries. As with opening the fridge door and staring blankly at the contents,… Continue reading