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…

This blog starts with some observations about colour. More precisely about two birds whose feathers are of the brightest colours though seeing them in their full splendour has proved difficult.  For years I had assumed that there was nothing in nature more colourful than the iridescent blue of a kingfisher. Rohan and I have twice…

It happens that I am mesmerised whenever I watch someone create something of beauty. It feels very special, for example, when I see a potter place a shapeless lump of clay on her wheel and then, using her hands moulds that clay into a beautiful vase. And the feeling is similar when I see a…

It is rare to find someone who has never suffered from the side effects of a medicine. Importantly, these effects increase the more potent the drug, the greater the number of medicines taken and as we age. To offset the problem, however, there are some controls  -  medicines are only allowed to be sold if…

For people like me, general elections are the most important and the most gripping of events in the political calendar. It is not just that the ballot box serves as the hub of democracy, it is also because the process focuses each nation’s minds and ultimately plays on our emotions. Democracy is a wonderful mechanism…