Be a Starfish…

Starfish are hardy little bastards. If one of its five limbs is cut off not only does it grow the limb back, but the removed piece of starfish – also creates a new starfish…

This is important for a number of reasons. It means they are hard to get rid of. They stick around and grow stronger. They are in for the long haul. You can’t get rid of them with a cut or two. It just makes them more determined.

The cut piece also has the ability to create a whole new way of living too. A whole new perspective and will continue to grow and develop. Again proving harder to eliminate.

We need to be more like starfish. We need to have 5 plans on the go at once. Don’t let a cut make you wither and die. Make yourself stronger, more determined, and fight back.

Find other starfish. Stick together. Make strong plans. Make stronger decisions, and don’t let other people tell you otherwise.

Sharpened pencils and clipped Topiary…

A day out…In two word bites

1. Bergerac Rose
2. Clipped Hedges
3. Warm Pool
4. Hot Barbecue
5. Found Dog
6. Taken Home
7. Forever Young
8. Swimming Pool
9. Lie In
10. Shaved Head
11. Hot Day
12. New Blog

A Soprano Through a Broken Church Window

Tonight I followed a sound. A beautiful singing voice coming from inside. The church in the centre of Sarlat where we are staying. The church doors were closed. So we followed the sound to the rear of the church. The glass windows had been long broken.

Yet through the broken shards we could glimpse two singers. Alone. With some lights. Just singing. It felt as if we were intruding on a private moment. In a sacred space, when no-one else was around. We stood and listened. It was beautiful, eerie, and yet so beautiful. So beautiful that I had to share the view through the shattered glass.

Happy Birthday @susiehargreaves xxx

This was taken on the walk this evening…Happy Birthday Susie, for the 17th of August. This is a sort of card and note to say, enjoy your day, and to let you know that fresh crossiants will be delivered in the morning and that coffee will be drunk in shady cafes during the day, and you will get to read your book, and drink champagne, and we will have dinner in one of those places where you can sit outside and watch the world go by, and you can just be fabulous…

Mxxx

Binary Moments…

Things are defined as either before or after. Those moments when a line is drawn in the sand. There was life before that moment, and life is different after that moment. It is how we measure our lives, how we create our narratives, how we tell our stories.

It makes us who we are.

At the moment, as part of this story, we are away. Which is great. Seeing our two children preparing to get into the pool for the first time is a joy. The weather here is sunny, bright and the air is clear. The view has most definitely changed. This is good.

I have started reading again, and writing a bit too. Not working. Just scribbling, and ideas are beginning to clarify. For some time, at least the last six months they have been on pause, on hold. They are coming back now. This is good too.

I wrote back on July 29th about having some more growing up to do. Over these last two weeks I know this has happened.

Binary moments…

 

 

After the Quake…

A corner of a hotel bed in a room somehere in Northern France is what I can see right now. It is where I will stay, before travelling on tomorrow. I am taking some time out.

I am reading this book. It feels as if it is the right book to read. It is upside down on my bed. I say reading, but I am
as yet unable to start it. I am not there yet.

This has been a strange fortnight. I haven’t been able to write things down properly yet. Images are still floating round my head like an unfinished animation. Mostly black and white. Clear cut, but without colour.

The news from the rest of the world has been an unsettling blur. A worrying haze. Hard to focus. Hard to make sense. There are some things I just can’t understand. Begin to understand. Some things are too difficult.

Here in this room it is good. It feels right to be here. Tomorrow I will be somewhere else.

The view will be different tomorrow. It always is.

That is all.

Mx

Things that you find yourself doing…

1 Taking a picture of your childhood home silhouetted against a very stormy sky.
2 Choosing a plot of ground, and making sure it is as near to the trees as possible.
3 Getting certificates printed – at least 5 copies to send off to banks and Insurance companies,
4 Remembering the Registrar scene from Complicit??’s show ‘A Minute Too Late’ And trying not to smile as the papers are stamped repeatedly.
5 Deleting a phone number and name from your mobile phone. Then remembering what that actually means.
6 Mixing mortar and mending the loose front steps before people come next Tuesday.
7 Buying takeaway meals from unfamiliar restaurants.
8 Getting lost in the new one way system in the town you used to know like the back of your hand.
9 Sorting out endless papers and filing them all in a big pile, then putting the file marked – pending – at the top.
10 Answering the phone and retelling the same story to people you haven’t seen for years.
11 Writing copy for the local paper. And not counting the words.
12 Running to buy spare clothes as you never thought to bring enough. Or a razor.
13 Discovering some green Chartreuse at the back of a cupboard and drinking some for the first (and last) time.
14 Catching up properly with your sister and her family, and getting a good curry house recommendation.
15 Making endless cups of tea. And coffee.
16 Going to the bank with your mum, for the first time in about 30 years.
17 Taking library books back.
18 Taking the time to sit quietly on my own and write this list.

My dad painted this picture

A self portrait by Paul Romer 3/10/36 – 3/8/11