Alan West detects the pungent smell of a bandwagon. The London Olympics have been a triumph. Only the meanest, most grudging curmudgeon or somebody who has been up the Orinoco without a paddle, or a TV or any other means of communication could deny that. For me, it started very late - with the opening…
Open letter to Mother Nature
Dear Mother Nature, I write to you as both a citizen of the world and an individual. As a citizen I offer you my sincerest apologies for the awful behaviour of human society at large. The way we are depleting the ozone layer, destroying forests worldwide, and squandering irreplaceable natural resources is deplorable. For over…
In the pink
There were thirty of us gathered for the occasion. At one end of the room sat Martha, who was her calm, alert and smiling self. Next to her on a small table was a greetings card. It was from the Queen. Next day Martha would be one hundred. Three parties had been arranged for her:…
Jubilee lines
In the end we were lucky. By starting at daybreak the window cleaners managed to squeeze us in. A few weeks earlier our roof had been repaired. The new slates were a picture, the insulation in the attic a relief, and the dirt in the house a nightmare. A thorough spring clean was not enough…
Granny C and the thistle
Granny C was angry. She wanted to see more of us. She had come to stay and we weren't paying her enough attention. She knew we had planned to clear the thistles from the meadow to allow the poppies to re-grow like last year [Field of Glory, 15th August, 2011] but spending hours digging each…
Reasons to be cheerful
A couple of 'newsy' things have escaped comment in this blog over the past few months. Since both news items are reasons to be cheerful they must not go unremarked. The first (though not necessarily in the order it happened) was the promotion of Joe Collier from BMJ journeyman blogger to Guest Blogger of the…
Nul points
Our dog was an opportunistic, lovable rascal. She would often take herself off for walks, as dogs did in those days, and in her sorties managed to endear herself to countless neighbours. Although they knew full well that she belonged to someone else, in the hours she was away she would go into some of…
Talk to the animals
“What do you think Ginger?” Silence …then.. “Ginger thinks your tie is very nice.” Nothing much wrong on the surface, but this was Alice, a family friend in her 70s, discussing my new tie with her cat. Alice was not mad, nothing ‘medically’ wrong, just quirky and a cat lover. I would have been around…