I stood on the edge of a carpet of decaying roses in the middle of July of this year, which was, I think, around six weeks after they had been laid down. What amazed me was how long the flowers were lasting; that is to say, how they were still offering something to be enjoyed … Continue reading Decay
It looked beautiful outside, lulled me into forgetting we are balanced on the edge of winter and so I ventured into the pale blue day, ill clad. Needles - the air was full of them - pricked me all over, scrubbed my cheeks red and made my eyes to stream. One glove off, I dabbed … Continue reading Winter Blues
I’m staying in the Scottish Highlands this week, in the middle of nowhere. On Monday, I drove four hours north until I had reached absolutely nowhere, threw a left up a hill, further into nowhere, and finally I turned right down a dirt track until I reached the very heart of nowhere. Trundling the last … Continue reading Caterpillar
Do you ever come across a line that is as ripe and full as a fig and if you don't stop and eat it there and then you’ll forget what it is saying to you? I’m talking about words that you must read again, re-view, go back over slowly so that the feeling it has … Continue reading Honest Attention to the Particular
I feel like I’m adjusting from this to that, from something to other, but I have no idea what either is. I simply have a sense that I am somewhere indeterminate, somewhere between before and after. How’s that for a jumbled description of my current juddering internal compass? Let me try harder to explain. It’s as … Continue reading Stew
Micro seasons – I had never heard of such a thing until R. explained the concept to me and immediately it made sense. Four even seasons, neatly contained within three-month blocks, is far too wide a cut to allow for any of the nuance that cusps between seasons can bring. How on earth can we … Continue reading Micro Seasons
I went to see the Tuner Prize shortlist (the annual award for visual artists) in 2013, the year the exhibition was in Derry. At one of the installations I was given £1 for engaging in a conversation about what constitutes ‘progress’. The payment was part of the art. Really?! Although I claimed my pound, I remained sceptical. I … Continue reading Endless Art
The temperature is dropping, the days are shortening, the wind is heightening. Morning mists cling. The grass isn't calling to be cut so often. Routine, order, timetables – they’re all being restored. Light cotton dresses are folded and put in the bottom drawer, sandals to the back of the cupboard, the straw hat releases a … Continue reading On The First Day of September
Didn't you just love the story this week about the couple from Yorkshire who won the lottery only to declare they wouldn't be holidaying in a yacht off the Amalfi coast or buying a Maserati, but rather, they were quite happy to keep up their annual holiday in a caravan in Skegness and more than … Continue reading Out Of Tune
This time last week I didn't even know where Clevedon was, never mind think that in a matter of days I would be wandering along its promenade enjoying the late summer sun. But life takes unexpected turns and catapults you to unforeseen places, which for me, yesterday, was the southern shore of the Severn Estuary … Continue reading Summer’s Parting Sighs
