Month: March 2022
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The joy of clearing the decks
As gardeners go, we’re not very good. We do try, earnestly and with great good will, from early spring and into and through the growing season, to coax healthy food from our beds. But by about mid-autumn, when the green tomatoes linger and the French beans wither, when the asparagus has set a few orange…
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The joy of quiet service
During this contemplative time, when it feels wrong to try to be cheerful, perhaps there’s some joy to be had in quiet service. There will be rather a lot of such devoted serving, by many kind and careful souls, over the next weeks, as two community funerals, and later a memorial gathering, take place. Not…
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No joy is possible today
Let the sun rise, then let it set The king of Allendale is gone. Hearts breaking for the simple debt We owe the prince who shone. Tears streaming down our cheeks There are no words to say. The shock against the future bleak Emotions can’t convey. Diminished, we are all. No respite from the grief,…
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The joys of clearer vision
I was humbled the other day when Anjelica posted a comment about her cataracts. That’s a cross-eyed bear I have yet to encounter. But my eyes haven’t been good for several years, so as I’ve mentioned, I took the plunge and accepted prismatic corrections. It was a delight to get the call from the opticians…
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The ms is delivered . . .
With a dull thud, the finished first draft lands on the kitchen table, all 272 pages of it. On the one hand, it’s an enormous relief, and a definite joy, but on the other hand it’s an empty space in my heart. I could feel the vacuum encroaching as I developed the ‘last’ scene which…
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The joy of arriving . . .
Today, with any luck, I shall finish the last scene of the last chapter of my third novel. Its working title is: Biome NE47: Daughters of Eden. In these desperate times of war virtually on our doorstep in Eastern Europe, a retreat into the final scenes of a fictional story exploring what a new life…
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Clear vision joys
Actually, the revealed joy was on Saturday, during an extensive eyesight check at the local opticians in Hexham. The expertise and professionalism of Dickinson’s on Priestpopple is second to none, I thought, especially as the weird double vision I’ve been experiencing over the past while got prismed back into crystal clarity. I could read the…
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The joy of work-arounds
Well, that was a trying morning! Opened my laptop to begin the daily routine, and the screen jumped and jiggled around before my eyes. It looked like there was something behind the frenzy, but I couldn’t be sure. After rather a lot of trial and error, which included the classic powering off and back on,…
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Gotta love that hard frost
There’s a special joy to be had, sitting in the warm kitchen, looking out at the hard frost over the East Allen valley, as the sun threatens to encroach over the horizon. I know this, because I’m experiencing it right now for myself. And if I am cheerful and ready for the day, it’s no…
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Doing my bit for
Oh no! The big day came and went and I was out among the stars! But I console myself with the realisation that, in some small way I’m doing my bit for the day, if only because yesterday I finished Chapter Nine of my emerging novel. There’s one more chapter to go and then it…
Roads to Joy 