This week I was – at least briefly – to be found strutting around in a rather fetching gown and feeling like queen for the day. It was my graduation – MLitt in creative writing at the University of Glasgow. While feeling an appropriate level of chuffed, there was a slight hint of sadness that […]
Short story: The Third Age
Climacteric NOUN 1 A critical period or event ‘the first major climacteric in 21st-Century poetry’ 2 Medicine The period in life when fertility and sexual are in decline (in women). ‘most women do not experience significant psychological problems at the climacteric’ 3 Botany The ripening period of certain fruits such as apples, involving increased metabolism […]
What did you do at the weekend?
Anyone else over 50 find it takes considerable effort to answer this one? A grinding of gears and a cranking look round at the two days of domesticity and idleness peppered by parental duties. “Pretty quiet. Nice, though,” does the job. I suppose no one is really that interested in anyone’s weekend until the answer […]
Hopes for Indian summer fade…
There it was, the first proper weather of the season. Storm Ali romped across the country causing considerable inconvenience. I had to change my plans and catch a bus. Heaven forfend. Boy Two abandoned his bus stop vigil when his hands went numb, and the garden is in more disarray than usual. It wasn’t always […]
Postcards from the hedge
Between the frothy sea edge and the jaunty awning of the cafe, there are people. Hot, flat people in tidy rows. Roasting and snoozing. Close enough to smell them but shut my eyes and I’m all alone. That’s when the idea struck me. Too lizardy idle to take a photo, could I just think about […]