Concerns about illness are normal at my age. In fact, they are so everyday that symptoms are discussed by guests around the dinner table in the now customary 'organ recital' slot. Chronic symptoms are in some ways old friends. It is the new ones that raise alarms. Do they herald something sinister? Will they get…
Life in Venus
Some weeks ago my wife gave me a postcard. She had bought it after visiting our local museum of regional history and the picture was of a slim, young, nude, woman. She was made of terracota, was about 20 cms high and around two thousand years old. In keeping with her demeanor, the legend on…
Open letter to Mother Nature
Dear Mother Nature, I write to you as both a citizen of the world and an individual. As a citizen I offer you my sincerest apologies for the awful behaviour of human society at large. The way we are depleting the ozone layer, destroying forests worldwide, and squandering irreplaceable natural resources is deplorable. For over…
Seeing the wood for the trees
Dotted around Kew Gardens are some twenty 'tree sculptures’ by David Nash. They come in all sizes, and sit variously in the middle of lawns, between bushes, or almost hidden in the undergrowth. Just finding them is fun in itself. They are being displayed, as the organisers say, in a 'Natural Gallery' and it works…
Thanks but no thanks
In our last house the railway ran along the back of the garden. Not exactly pleasant for us, but for Ravi, a toddler and train enthusiast, it was pure heaven. Whenever he visited he would stand on a chair by the window and watch spellbound as each train passed by. One day we went to…
In the pink
There were thirty of us gathered for the occasion. At one end of the room sat Martha, who was her calm, alert and smiling self. Next to her on a small table was a greetings card. It was from the Queen. Next day Martha would be one hundred. Three parties had been arranged for her:…
Never mind the cake
Reading others' minds is something we do all the time. And although we use as many clues as possible - words, body language, general comportment and a knowledge of the person him or herself - getting it right is often difficult. Such judgements are so much part of the way we communicate, that I assume…
Jubilee lines
In the end we were lucky. By starting at daybreak the window cleaners managed to squeeze us in. A few weeks earlier our roof had been repaired. The new slates were a picture, the insulation in the attic a relief, and the dirt in the house a nightmare. A thorough spring clean was not enough…
Men and their toys
Yes, men can be grumpy, unsociable, and uncommunicative, but on occasion we can also be gentle and understanding. Indeed this is often how we are amongst ourselves when sharing our 'toys' - those mechanical objects that bemuse women. Two such instances occurred recently. Not with a video camera, Apple iPad or over-complex watch, but a…
The apprentice’s tale
It was a most unexpected ending to the day. Rather than feeling joyful, that afternoon was filled with sadness. We had been building a wall on and off for twelve months; it was the year's big project. Then the work was done, the site was cleared, and it was time for saying goodbye. I didn’t…
The Joe Collier Blog 