In praise of Sundays
Wagner’s Ring, Fidel Castro’s speeches, War & Peace. None of them as long as rainy October Sunday afternoons in the …
Contractual obligations and autumn leaves
When I resurrected this blog a couple of years ago I made a sort of contract with myself. Every Sunday …
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An autumn walk
Autumn. Blustery walks, thick socks, hot chocolate, heating on. Today, as if in acknowledgement of the official turn of the …
Memories, by Toutatis!
Memory is a strange thing, its triggers and manifestations random and unpredictable. The vast complexity of the human brain has …
Friendship, cricket, and fallow deer
He was my friend, his name was Peter, and, some years ago now, he died. We’d played cricket together for …
Of phalaropes and blue tits
It was smaller than I’d expected, but perhaps that’s because it was standing next to a sheep. Big things, sheep, …
The Art of Fun
They’ve gone. I got home late on Friday, greeted by uncanny warmth, a grumpy cat, and that slightly odd smell …
Rainy day
It was hot. And then on the sixty-fifth day did come the rain. And the country did explode with joy, …
Creatures of the Night
I feared three things as a child: The monster that lived in the lavatory. I never saw this formless beast, …
The budderflaahs of Wmpltn
There was a moment, during the tennis match between Kevin Anderson and John Isner on Friday, when I feared it …