It is almost two months ago to the day since I had my operation. As is common in men of my age, my prostate had grown uncomfortably large and was in need of a trim. The operation went well, but the immediate post-operative weeks brought some challenging moments when I contracted two bacterial infections that…
A tale of monarchs reborn
Diana and Yvonne had been friends since university. They meet once a year to catch up, but last week their meeting was different. Diana had just come back from a brief stay in Moscow where her life had been turned upside down. She went there to be immersed in the language and, in passing, to…
How six good notes saved WW2
This story, which spans almost seventy years, starts in the late 1940s when my wife Rohan was still a New Zealand toddler. Before she left for England aged three, she had two favourite babysitters, Ted and Margaret. Both were music students and, as it transpires, both shared a happy disregard for the perfectly-tuned piano. Fast…
Hold very tight please!
In central London last week I found myself re-living memories of my childhood - and there was an added pleasure: I was allowed to make the sort of very English public announcement of which boyhood dreams are made. The incident involved a new double-decker bus, one of those red, recently-introduced, London Transport Routemasters whose design…
Down and outs in Paris and London
There can't be many things I have in common with the down and outs of Richmond, but it is clear that we both share one affinity; the local graveyard. I know why I like it. Apart from it being a short-cut to the station there is something special about its airy calm, elegantly bordered York-slab…
Harvest home
The last days of the summer holidays were frenetic. Jobs put off from back in July had to be done. The saplings needed stouter stakes to help them withstand the ferocious winter winds – this took one morning. The overlong reeds in the field needed cutting down – another morning. There was the usual cleaning…
Field of glory
It is now mid August and she has lost much of her splendour. In the last week her vibrant reds and subtle blues have faded and she no longer turns heads. How very different from two weeks ago. Then, we were living a dream that took five years to materialise. I am talking about the…
Job done?
During my career I spent years finishing and delivering completed bits of work. And, in retirement this has continued unabated although at a rather different level (last week it was one article, two blogs and some French homework!). Whatever the work, what strikes me as mysterious is how I (or anyone else) seem to be…
Hello piglet, I’m on a train
Verbal molestation: the light and dark sides of broadcast conversation There can be little more invasive than unwanted noise. Aeroplanes, trains, even music (pressed to the loudspeaker at a rock concert, the overloud iPod) can bombard and make life unpleasant, and even painful. Well, that is classic noise pollution for which there are laws; but what about…
The Joe Collier Blog 