under another sun

Up early to go to Hampstead. Moisture in the air, a light, minuscule drops that didn't darken the pavement or my shirt.  Had to travel via Brighton after the crash on the Lewes line. The train stopped on the viaduct in Brighton, and I got a view of Preston Park, which was baked earth between the trees. Did some editing of poems on the train, but began to feel out of sorts on the way up to Hampstead. I have a bit of a cold, which I hope I didn't give to Mum.  Muggy in Hampstead. I met Mum at the station as usual, and we toddled down to the Old White Bear, which we both like as our special meeting place. Her amigos at the Waggon seem to have abandoned that place, and perhaps drink elsewhere. Toby called me while we were in the Bear, saying he hadn't been able to reach Mum, but they said hello. We sat in a different seat today, with views of different bears, as interlopers had moved into our usual corner, and we had our usual fare, pea and lovage soup for Mum, and a sourdough ...

To Stanmer Park, to pick up the results of our pottery workshop, imprinting bits of plants or lace into the clay. We were pleased with the bits we got back.  Then we drove into Brighton, down Osbourne Road where we lived, and into Preston Park. We walked across the park, which was looking lovely, to the breast clinic as Lorraine had an appointment for a scan. We had been worrying about this for a couple of weeks, but after two scans and a chat with doctor we were very reassured to learn there was nothing to worry about. Feeling greatly relieved, a saunter back across the park. We drove to Anton's house, picking him up to go off for a cheeky drink in the Brick on Preston Street. Good to see him, and play a game of bones. Anton, greatly to his satisfaction, slaughtered everyone. I barely got a point. He showed us some photos of Oskar modelling clothes, and told us he'd seen Klaudia that day, and generally caught up a bit. I drank some dark lager which was lovely. Lorraine and I h...

A bit of freshness in the air in the morning, thanks to being near the sea. Did business admin first thing. Then wasted time running about to local shops to get coins so that I could wash a quilt in the big washer of the local launderette. Obtaining actual cash these days is increasingly difficult.  A national emergency heat red alert for next week, with temperatures set to set an English record topping 40℃. Alarming in all kinds of ways. It will be Lorraine's last week, but it wouldn't be her last week without a national crisis to deal with. The infrastructure not designed to deal with this in the UK. I remember going to Greece once and arriving when it was 40℃, and that felt really hot. Even the locals were flaking out. But this is Blighty. In Chad it was 49℃ there, but it was such dry heat that it seemed okay.  Wrote the first draft of a poem this afternoon. Booked for next Monday for an additional day on the job Keith and I have been doing. Walked to Anton's house in my...

Up early and off to Edgware after I did some writing and a wee bit of stuff for the podcast. Turns out the people we have asked to concrete our front path were to start today. Nine o'clock, shortly before I had to leave, a bloke started hammering outside. The broken concrete path came up easily. I walked down to Preston Park again, and trained it up to Mill Hill Broadway. The faux first train compartment offering me the opportunity to do some work up to St Pancras away from the hammering. Met with Mum and Mason at the Jolly Badger, which is a Harvester. Sam said yesterday to ask for the 'set' menu. There was a senior set there, including an 80th birthday party and one overworked waitress, who kept saying no worries . Mason seeming okay given the alarms early in the week. I had a rack of ribs, and two pints of Guinness. Chatted to Mum, reminding her that she was not alone and to ask for help if things get difficult. Mason able to wander off to kindly pay the bill, and of cou...

A good start this morning, wrote a new short poem, which for better or worse arrived fully formed. I normally scorn the idea of writing prompts, but I was thumbing through my lemon yellow notebook of bits I sometimes jot down out of books, and was sparked by something I'd copied in there by Roland Barthes. Chatted to Keith for an hour today, talking about business and doing a bit of planning, and a bit of gossip.  Had a chat with Mum today, and will migrate north next week for a day to see her. Then I mooched off to the gym, clambered onto the cross trainer for the third time this week, but soon felt rather bushed and cut the session a bit short. In fact I suddenly realised I was feeling rather tired. Walked back across Preston Park, I was thumbing my phone for the next podcast but then women began screaming and shouting made me look up to see chaotic scenes involving four women and as many dogs. One woman's dog had seized a smaller one and was savaging it. As I made my way tow...

Lorraine much better today, after having horribly upset stomach yesterday, and even managed to eat things again. It was good to see her colour go back to normal and her temperature drop. Kept checking on her during the day. In the late afternoon she got up to sit on the gold sofa. A shame as she had planned to meet James's mother today, in a grand Mum Summit in Lewes. And talking of Mums, I spoke to Mum at lunchtime, she has had more difficulties with her car, and Felix needed to go to the vet for stitches after having a nasty cut. The trauma of journey there with the cat in a box, is worse than the injury. Another tiresome day's freelance, battling on with Keith, but finished just after six.   I met Anton in the Batty for a beer, and we ended up going to a couple of pubs before a cheeky meal of decent Indian street food in the  Hampton. He was wearing excellent new brogues of a dull reddish colour. Lovely. Felt a bit like old times wandering into a few pubs. Face masks here a...

Up early for a Sunday. Breakfast, and then a spot of Zelda Link's Awakening. One of the games that Lorraine bought, where you enter a magical world full of puzzles and quests. I love the little Japanese touches you can detect, such as the way the blocks in the dungeon walls are drawn to look like those in Edo castle. Played this together for a bit, then Lorraine played it off and on for hours, mostly exploring a dungeon, sometimes on the private screen, uttering things like Skeletons! Can we kill skeletons?   It is a much needed escape from the pressures of the real world.  We also briefly played MarioCarts, an exciting driving game which is fun. I edited the first draft of the Charlotte interview enough to send it to the Gannster for review and to Robin. All happy, with just a few tweaks to make.   Lorraine and I went for a walk around Preston Park, but it was crawling with people as it was a very pleasant morning, being very casual about social distancing.  Home an...

Off  to the park this morning, and saw my glassmates Ben, Adele, Sally, Kate, Kate, Deana, Francis and Jane. Felt rather ashamed as I turned up empty handed, and was given a mince pie and a bottle of Adele's blackberry vodka, and three cards, and a small bar of black handmade soap by Deana and a box of chocolates from Frances, and a tree hanging from Jane.  Lovely to chat to them, standing in two rings in the park which was cold and bit windy. Walked back across the park with Ben afterwards, hoping for better times next year.  I bought a card for Sonya to slip into her bag of wee pressies, and wished her happy Christmas, from a distance of course, like all the business of the day. Chatted to Mum and Anton today. Lorraine's last day at school today, which was excellent. Home, tired but with bags of pressies. However not long after being at home, a phone call which meant she had lots of work people to call till seven. I collected a curry, and we had a happy night indoors be...

Up fairly early this morning to pack and have a sturdy breakfast to prepare us for the road. Jumped into the car, and headed home. Our route took us along the Wye valley again and past Chepstow. A strong sense of déjà vu as we drove between the long stone wall of the racecourse, and the trees opposite -- although I have never been there.  Nor had I ever crossed the Severn bridge before.  First you cross the Wye, then the bridge becomes a viaduct going over a nub of land called Beachley then over the Severn. It takes a few minutes of booting across it in the car before you reach England on the other side. I felt a bit exposed and weird on it, even Lorraine determinedly zoomed ahead. The journey back, was pleasant and uneventful, the best kind of motorway driving for most of it. I was sad to be going home though, as getting away had been a tremendous mental boon, and broke patterns that badly needed breaking. Home and the cats were reproachful, but all in one piece. Spoke to...

Hot as anything. Working outside this morning as well as in my office. Still on the short story, and some work on my new secret project with Robin. Strolled into town at lunchtime and met up with Chris Williams, we got a coffee (an iced coffee for me) and sat in New Road opposite the Theatre Royal chatting in a socially distanced way. Chris is a born traveller, and was telling me about some of his trips, such as walking on Indonesian Volcanoes, and a recent scary encounter with a rhino. Mooched home in the heat through Preston Park, lots of young folks there and a gleeful feeling of the end of lockdown. I noticed a girl wobbling on a tight rope (The French Bloke told me it was really called a slack line) and it seemed a fitting image for Blighty at present. Drank some beer outside in the heat tonight, having a nice chat with my lovey wifey. Below, park scenes. I'm all about the black and white at the moment.

Up early and working for three or four hours on my new horror story first thing. It is going quite well. I enjoy my writing most when I discover as I write what the story is about, and how to tweak the plot. This work done, I seemed to have expended all my enthusiasm and focus for the day. Pottered about replying to my accountant, and listing things that I should be doing if only I had enthusiasm. My back is stiff and painful. Nearing the end of The Plot Against America . The character's wearying raging against the politics of their time, and the slide away from truth and towards fascism feels all too familiar now. Chatted to Anton. He is bored, being made to work very hard, and can't see the end of the plague.   Threatening rain here in Brighton much of the day without delivering much. It was warm, and my lightning tracker went off a few times, alerting me of the exciting fact lightning was occurring within 50 miles. I walked up to the hill fort again, but decided not to tarry...

A few bits and pieces of my own, before working through the afternoon for the agency. Off this evening for a walk around to Anton's house. I sat in his front garden under the magnolia tree, and Anton sat on his stairs and we had a few beers. First time we had seen each other in months. We didn't get near each other, but it was much better than a beer over zoom. We were sitting outside as the applause for the NHS started and we joined in. All in all it was lovely to see him. Johnson's riskily quick easing of the lockdown continues. It is too soon. Our numbers far higher than other countries who have begun to relax the restrictions. You have to look at Johnson and ask does this man have the best interests of his country at heart? He does not. Walked home, after having a discreet wee in a drain outside Anton's house. The park much less busy.  now. Home and I ate some chicken wraps and Lorraine and I happily watched a couple of episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine before bed....

Up and did a smidge of work before heading down to the doctors for an 8:55 appointment. A very young woman doctor saw me exactly on time, and she was excellent. I went about my ears. which are in a parlous state. I have irritable eustachian tubes, which seem to affect my balance and give me tinnitus and so on. I did feel a bit a wuss sneaking in to discuss my ears, in the quiet before the storm.  The place was empty, and there were only one or two people in the spacious waiting room. Straight to the pharmacy to pick up some nasal drops, as all the tubes are connected in your head somehow.  Then to the pharmacy, where while I was there a French guy came in and said he had cold like symptoms. They asked him if he had a dry cough, and when he said yes the workers there took a step back. I was already a step or so back and added to them.  Other than that simply came home, walking through the park. Tiredness and lack of focus adding to the sore throat I've had and so nat...

Decorations all packed away in the cardboard box marked Christmas for another year. After Lorraine and I took off its decorations, I dragged the tree down to the Christmas tree graveyard in Preston Park, following the trail of needles. Noticeably fewer this year than a couple of years ago. Our tree barely shed at all, and it seems few others had done so too. Must be the species on sale around these parts this year. Caught up with a bit of correspondence, and wrote to Sarah Barnsley who had sent me a note of congratulation about Sin Cycle , and a long overdue note to Joan in Deviation Road. Otherwise a final day of mooching about. Seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time on laundry, tidying the decorations away and washing up. All cooked a roast chicken with many vegetables this evening, and ate it watching episodes of the brainiac quiz show  Only Connect which Beth is very good at. Drank some wine, as it was Sunday night, and next week is a school week. Began clipping Call...

More editing. More calorie counting. Took delivery of new scales. Walked. A sense of plodding on relentlessly and feeling a bit bored with it -- but the end is in sight. Lorraine and I both looking forward to her finishing school again. Not long now. Watching some video links that Ben sent me on Transhumanism and NeoDarwinism and mankind's striving towards immortality. I surely can't be alone in thinking the idea of having to be, say for example, Peter Kenny for millennia is a bit dispiriting. Meanwhile a snap of the meadow flowers part of Preston Park. The bees love it.

Bending the vast Kenny will to things, making lists, sending things off, and generally reminding people of my existence but nothing much happening. Looked at some website text for Lorraine's school, read some work by Jane in Guernsey on what I think is a potentially sellable new writing project she has started.  Went for a longish walk to get my ten thousand paces done for the day. Worked on a story I was brushing up, called Where the beauty is .  Thought about the waiting rooms project, and generally held my nerve and carried on. Up early and saw a partial eclipse of the moon, which I took the world's worst photographs of for posterity. Also some views of a frosty Preston Park

So list making this morning, a low-key list with easily achievable things on it. Contacted mes amis in Paris, as I'd not heard from them. A strange tale of disappearing emails. However all okay now, and a new project on the horizon hopefully. Spoke to Mum, texted Shaila who is over in the UK taking care of her uncle, and had been in touch.  In the afternoon I spoke to Heather, Kim having returned to Canada. Not Heather's fault, but I need to think about anything else in the world other than matters to do with Janet estate right now. I am sick to the back teeth of the whole thing. Heather returning home this week, and not a good flyer. I wished her a safe journey. During the day I went for a walk in Preston Park, it is a freakishly gorgeous day, and sat briefly by the pond, where I noticed the vast majority of the goldfish were black, presumably the gold ones being easier to spot by things predating on them and have over time resulted in a mostly black goldfish population. I...

Up fairly fresh, despite Calliope's best efforts. She managed to get out onto the roof in the night, and yowled through the velux windows till I got up and rescued her. As a thank you she went into he garden, and returned shortly after with a live frog which when I got out of bed to deal with it, it jumped wetly on my foot forcing me to yelp like the heroine of a Victorian melodrama. As the plumbing was coming to some kind of culmination. Toby and I suck to home for the morning and early afternoon. We sat outside drinking coffee and chatting. And when it was too sunny to sit outside, being the hottest day in recorded history, or something like it, we came inside where the plumber insisted on putting the radiators on to test the new radiator in the bathroom. Eventually the plumbing stopped with promises to actually finish it tomorrow. I till believe it when I see it. Toby and I free then to go for a walk, into Preston Park, and it was seriously warm. Mooching about chatting abou...

Last day before the plumbers arrive. Email working today, as I will need to be on hand for workmen for the next few days, a long walk this morning. Then lots of tiny tasks such as proofing my poem War diary in 1/72 scale, replied to my accountants, chase an unpaid invoice and other tiny tasks. A longish call with Janet, understandably feeling sad after her sister's death. I arranged to go around to see her next week. Finished The Anatomy Lesson , and begrudgingly admire it. Next up  from Roth is  Portnoy's Complaint,  but only after I finish several other books. I consulted the I Ching this afternoon, which I have not done for some time. It gave me the most positive reading I have ever had from it over several decades. Irrational thought it is, I felt quite boosted by it. Just because something is irrational, doesn't mean it is meaningless. Football this evening, England taking on Colombia, and amazingly enough beating them in the penalty shoot out. It was a...

Terrible night's sleep but a productive day. Feeling more positive and purposeful than I have in some time. Lorraine waking up, then once I was thoroughly awake, went to sleep again after I had put my hand on her shoulder, which magically sent her to sleep as it does quite often.  I was in the wide awake club however.  I dropped off for a few minutes just before I got up, but  I woke up shouting No! After a quick nightmare about Calliope leaping at a magpie, which flew high up with her. After this I simply got up instead, looking out of my study window half expecting the scene to enact itself outside my study window. Had a very good day's work, starting very early, which made me feel happier than I have felt for a while. I have also almost finished the group of poems I'm calling Sin Cycle , which I feel quite pleased with. They are freer, more irreverent and funnier than poems I have written before, but no less serious. I spent much of the day happily buffing them up....