A room of one’s own
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The BMW driver
He’s a sharp dresser – tailored navy suits, thickly knotted ties, chunky cuff-links and shined shoes. He drives past me every morning in a streamlined silver BMW on his way to work; at least I assume that’s where he is going. Most likely a banker, too slick to be a medic and not sharp-featured enough…
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The yummy mummy
She cries in the shower most mornings, before the baby is awake. Once out, she dries her tears off, buttons smart clothes over her sadness, and paints a love-filled marriage over her gaunt, bruised features. Taking a deep breath, she breezes through the chaotic opening scene of her day as a mother, barely noticing any…
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The boat
The water is choppy along the estuary today. But we’re out in the boat all the same. I’m sitting uneasily at the back, my new fleece pressed tightly around me by the comically huge life-jacket I have to wear. Its collar blocks the view either side of me, so I just grip the red, curved…
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The walk to school
The walk with my wee girl to and from my son’s school has the same view, but entirely opposite speeds. On the way there, I only take in the most noticeable features as I speed past with Ciara in the buggy – more aware of the bumps on the pavement and the height of the…
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The walking man walks
Other men will stop and talk; / but the walking man walks. So sings James Taylor. I understand he was referring to his dread of changing seasons, but I took another meaning from those words… Over the past few years, and especially of late, I have been fretting over my lack of friends, and the…
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Dithering and swithering
I am not a decisive person. In fact, you could say that indecision is one of my most persistent and frustrating flaws: from the superficial to the crucial, I am terrible at making my mind up. For example, it always takes me just a few minutes too long to answer my husband when he asks…
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No more pioneers
Reading my dad’s ‘African Memoirs’ with all the (albeit embellished!) tales of his time working in Sierra Leone in the ’60s, my pride of his adventurous spirit was mixed with a sense of shame at my lack of one. It got me thinking about all of the amazing pioneers amongst my ancestors – my mum…
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Little tent in the big woods.
When I was about 8, my cousins decided that we would pitch a tent in the woods behind our holiday home, and camp out overnight. During the day leading up to that, it seemed like a fun, adventurous idea, but by the time evening came, I wasn’t so sure. I remember a growing knot in…
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Pointless, valuable words.
“This too shall pass”, “it’s just a phase”, “look for the good in it” etc etc etc. Particularly of late, I seem to have been on the receiving end of a lot of comments like these. At least one a day I would say. Mostly, they irritate me, and I use some misguided superiority of…
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“Not I” said the goose
Reading The Little Red Hen to Samuel two nights ago, I was reminded of a truly valuable life lesson. Ignoring the fact that I am furthering my education solely through children’s books now, it was surprisingly effective. All of the little red hen’s farm-yard companions repeatedly refuse her appeals for assistance with planting, threshing, grinding…
