Category Archives: Odds & Ends
A Shapeshifter at Play
All the windows are locked. Curtains closed. Blinds pulled down all the way to the sills. Even so, its chilly breath hisses through the tiny gaps and reaches my knees. There is an occasional tremor in the candle flames on … Continue reading
New Year Resolutions?
I’ve binned my 2018 New Year’s resolutions. Unopened. They were past their use-by date. Somehow, they ended up being kicked under the bed or falling behind bookcases, where dust grows in tumbleweed form, buried under dictionaries on my desk, or … Continue reading
Needling
For some, it’s a massage or a facial. For me, it’s acupuncture. As soon as I’m overwhelmed by stress, run down or simply in need of TLC (not to mention if ever I have a health concern), I book in … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged acupuncture, complementary medicine, katherine gregor, scribe doll, world acupuncture day
8 Comments
Early Autumn Wedding
“Are you having any readings?” “No.” “Have you brought some music?” “No.” “Do you have rings?” “Yes.” The elderly registrar smiles with a hint of relief. At least one traditional feature. She tells those present that photos are not permitted … Continue reading
Thunderstorm
After weeks of relentless, unusually intense heat, the weather forecaster announces a violent thunderstorm with possible flash flooding in the East of England. That and we’ve been promised the longest lunar eclipse – with blood moon, no less – in a … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged katherine gregor, moon eclipse, scribe doll, thunderstorm, writing
18 Comments
Ash Wednesday
Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam. Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me. The voices gently rise to the stone vaults and fill the 12th-century church, … Continue reading
A Writers’ Social
The Scene: A bar. The Players: Novelists, children’s writers, academics, translators, journalists, biographers, and other assorted literary intellectuals. * “Hi! Nice to see you! Which way did you come?” “Oh, it was bloody awful. I drove down the [name of … Continue reading
A New Focus for the New Year?
I am just wondering if a shift of focus might help. Practice makes perfect, so the more you repeat an action or even a thought, the more likely is that action or thought to become consolidated. After all, wherever we … Continue reading
Qi Gong
It’s the same every morning. I negotiate my way out of bed and, eventually, brave the steep Munchkin stairs and stagger into the kitchen. I put the kettle on, wait for the first crackling sound and switch it off. I … Continue reading
