Covid Times . Introspection . Top Ten Lists
Top Ten List of Small Things
On January 30, 2021 by Speranza
This is not intended to be yet another gust of Pollyanna-overload – I only seek to catalogue a few of the things that have helped even a little during these endless days of sad news. I think it was Stephen Colbert, (himself one of these helpful things) who commented recently that he was really looking forward to not hearing the words “another grim milestone” every.single.day. I am also acutely aware how lucky we are to be able to plan and discuss coping strategies – because after all, the luxury of time, companionship and good food are all such individual gifts.
And I get that.
Covid Times . Introspection . My Brothers . Sadness
Happy New Year, try not to laugh …
On January 8, 2021 by Speranza
Hard to write about anything today without commenting on the endlessly distressing news (er, and Happy New Year everyone) but I will now try to do that very thing. Those who know me, will testify that I have always been about savouring and appreciating The Small Things (even before it became fashionable to do so and we all had to read about the technique in someone’s bestselling book).
But truly, it really is all that we have.
Covid Times . Getting Older
Losing your Marbles – or not
On December 30, 2020 by Speranza
So hard to believe that The Pandemic year has been almost exactly that now – an entire year. With more intense lockdowns returning this week and the growing, trembling realization that this whole thing may not have been handled as well by our government as we previously thought, I am trying to return to focusing on the few things that I can control here in my own world. Sadly, this must include the rat’s nest that is called my study. I am usually very much on top of this stuff but slowly it has turned into such a landslide of papers, filing and debris that I had to begin a Shred-Off – and this is only Day 2.
Covid Times . The General
Three Questions
On November 22, 2020 by Speranza
As November lurches to a close and we remain in Covid-19 lockdown mode, The General and I still marvel daily at how lucky and privileged we are to be able to hunker down without the added responsibility of entertaining (and educating) young children and maintaining a job. We also never lose sight of the luxury that is called having a door that opens into a back garden. I remain fascinated too by how long this has been going on and how we have been able to adjust to restrictions that would have been considered unfathomable only a year ago.
British Stuff . Covid Times . Hope . My Mother . Nostalgia . The General
A New November
On November 10, 2020 by Speranza
Each year I dread November. As well as unconsciously shuffling through tightly compressed memories of my mother’s death (43 years ago) and all the associated bleakness both outside and within, I can hardly bear the early darkness that creeps in after a five o’clock sky, flecked with pink. I am flooded with memories of living in Britain and that particular deep reaching dampness that can only really be remedied with a large Scotch in a steaming bath. (And at seventeen, as now, I don’t even drink Scotch …)