This blog started with a conversation in the gym when one of my ‘gym buddies’ made what I saw as an unwarranted slur, although he might have meant it as an amusing quip! Apart from exercising, during every gym session there will be moments when the regulars acknowledge one another; for some it’s just a…

If I have learned one thing as a blogger, it is that any single word is only half the story. In reality, what precedes and what follows helps determine that word’s full meaning. And, added to words in the text, there are also more distant determinants; with a book for example, there may be the…

Many readers will know that for years my knees have been causing trouble. Apart from aches and pains there have been occasions when I have fallen and sprained tendons or ligament and each time recovery has taken months. Up until now, X-rays and scans have shown nothing broken or damaged. Nevertheless, the pain has meant…

I am an inveterate challenger and this blog tells about two occasions when I was at it again. I have actually been challenging for years. At school, I challenged teachers or fellow students when I felt that they had said, or done something I saw as wrong. Later, challenging was a central part of my…

Living in a world where politics are so troubled, it would be odd if I did not write something about sadness. But, importantly, sadness is not a feature of the events themselves, rather it is how we, as individuals feel about them and my approach to such feelings has changed greatly over the years.  While…

This blog is about kindness, a quality of human beings for which I am very grateful. It is, in fact a complicated affair. At one extreme kindness might only involve helping a complete stranger and leaving without saying a word. More commonly, however, it is part of an ‘exchange’ where, for instance, a gift or…

There are lots of ‘bistros’ near our home in London and my favourite, which is tiny, has been run by the same couple for years. It is here that I pop in to have a coffee, to buy some of their home-made goodies or even just to chat. It is also here, in the smallest…

One way or another sport has always been very much part of me. Although I was never good at anything and it took me years to understand the niceties of the games I played, I did enjoy being involved. At primary school it was cricket, football and hockey, and then in my teens - basketball,…

This story is about two fields near our house in Tréguennec. In one field, the image I saw first brought warmth and fascination but with changes these turned to feelings of sadness. In the other field, the picture was one of widespread and disturbing destruction. Inevitably, in all I saw emotion and imagination will have…

Two years ago my close friend Tom phoned from his home in Australia to tell me of a plan he and his wife Sian had just ‘hatched’. For several months they had been discussing taking an extended trip and now the decision was made; the family would be spending a year in France. It was…