Reflections

Today we lost a friend.  Six weeks ago when I was dithering whether we should visit John McKay and his wife before they went to the US for their vacation or after he pressed me to seize the day. I’m so glad he did because Maine turned out to be a one way trip for him. We first met John when…

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Recycling 101

  Tuesday is an important day in this household. It’s the only day any kind of garbage is picked up. Actually, my Tuesdays begin on Monday evening when I haul one or possibly two of our wheelie bins into the street. And if I forget, woe everso betide me, because I’ll have to wait another 14 days for the next…

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Fishing and Other Unrelated Topics

I’m currently reading a book I know I bought but can’t remember why. It’s a kind of fisherman’s memoir and the only reason I can think it appealed to me is that though I’ve never fished in my life, fishing does have a palimpset presence in my history. My grandfather was an avid coarse fisherman and during the war, when…

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Nothing To Do With Me

 Well, the Monday morning quarterbacks have appeared on cue. A 37 year old samurai sword owner with a history of domestic violence and threatening  behaviour emerges from a short stretch in prison, shoots the mother of one of his children, also her new boyfriend and a traffic cop going quietly about his duty. The boyfriend is killed,…

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Meanwhile, Down at the Asylum…

Today, a couple of slices from the Fruit Cake Zone of Politics. Italian roads, as you will know if you’ve ever tried to join one of their slip-roads to hell, are dangerous places. Mindful of this the Italian government is going to impose a driving ban on anyone over the age of 80. Well, it’s a…

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