My garden had become an embarrassment. But nature still offered up a perfect summer moment, filling the sky with clouds of dancing seeds… It was a late July day and it was blissful, even for a shade-grown hayfever sufferer like me. Patches of mellow sunlight ebbed across our neglected garden in a lazy-river procession and […]
The Infinite Dandelion Probability Generator Read More »
Ignorance is bliss. So is caffeine. Here’s how my morning coffee was ruined by science… There are some facts that, once learned, you wish you could immediately scrub from your memory. A couple of years ago, I read that it’s best to abstain from coffee in the first hour after waking, because caffeine interferes with
What is there to look forward to, except coffee? Read More »
My tinnitus was driving me crazy, so I headed to the beach. But instead of a paradise of white noise, I encountered a celestial silence that was deafening… I stood at the threshold of the divine and immediately wanted to go home. For most people, what I experienced would represent a moment of serenity, a
Slack water at the gates of heaven Read More »
During a season of stifling heat and animal mortality, I tried in vain to teach my daughter about the Circle of Life… A friend of mine once asked why it was rare to see a dead animal on the streets of London, given the teeming population of creatures with whom we share the city. The
Apex Predators in High Summer Read More »
How a short lifestyle column, about the pleasures of completing early-morning errands, got lodged in my brain for two decades… If actions speak louder than words, then the actions that we take routinely and automatically can seem to speak loudest of all. People’s lives are defined by routines. When they try to change their habits
Carrot and Stick and Caffeine Read More »
We all want clear lines of succession and shared rules for the peaceful transfer of power. But focusing on protocol can make us lose sight of the job at hand… Joe Biden’s inauguration as President of the United States took place under extraordinary circumstances. One of many idiosyncrasies that day: he took the oath of
Just who is in charge here? Read More »
I awoke to discover both my home and my spouse undergoing an unnerving renewal… It’s around 7am. I walk into the back bedroom of my house to find it in complete disarray. There are trails of mortar and dust on every surface and a general disorder to the contents of the room. It’s the kind
Dream: wife redecorates Read More »
An Irish wedding and a rain shower forced me to confront the terrible transience of footwear… Driving through the west of Ireland can feel like a journey made in a motoring simulator. This is especially true if you’re used to negotiating the roads of London and the south of England, many of which are rarely
All shoes should be permanent Read More »
