Social Life

Ah, life in the countryside. Back in Christchurch, my mountain jacket or duvet, and my big leather walking boots were, let’s say, overkill. Wearing them seemed odd and set me apart from [...]

I periodically sprinkle the word woke into my posts. That makes me, a pensioner, appear in touch with the modern world even if I have no idea what it really means. Well, that might have to stop [...]

As I slave over these posts I often have to fall back on the dictionary. Perhaps that is not apparent when you read them! The moment I sift through the pages, I recall a gruff man holding a [...]

Psychologists advise us to love ourselves, but what does that really mean? If it means taking a positive view of your past then perhaps I do love myself. This thought arose because I was mulling [...]

Increasing male violence during the pandemic comes as no surprise to me. All over the world, men have a problem. Any lockdown, with its frustrations, brings out the bully. As a result, they [...]

The government is struggling to manage the pandemic and deaths are rising. We were not ready for this pandemic anymore than they were ready for the 1918 Spanish flu. Indeed, over my 45 years in [...]

When I registered on NHS England as extremely vulnerable, I had to state whether I was able to maintain food supplies. At first, I said yes. Days later and unable to contact Sainsbury’s, I [...]

The modern world and the ancient have suddenly become similar. By that, I mean small and unpredictable. Today, we have to fear people from outside our circle, more so if they dare to cough. In [...]

As the dreaded virus spreads, statements that we are all in this together can be hard to reconcile. As it is, I find myself on the high risk rating because of my blood cancer. I even have a [...]

Ann and I run over the volcano as the sun rises each day. The distance is four miles and the lava trip hazards number in their thousands. It is cool and we watch the sun rise as a flaming ball [...]