A reading from the Book of the Prophet Amos6:1a, 4-7 Those who sprawl and those who bawl will be exiled The almighty Lord says this: “Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria. Lying on ivory beds and sprawling on their divans, they […]Read Post ›
On Monday and Tuesday of this past week, the Kremlin announced a series of escalatory measures in Russia’s war with Ukraine. These included … Desperate Measures – Putin Escalates The War (The Russian Invasion of Ukraine #196)
Soixante -neuf. I see you internally giggle. But don’t. Yesterday was my sixty-ninth birthday. The beginning of my seventieth year. My three score and ten is almost up. This was brought home to me recently when I opened an official looking envelope which contained the message that my life insurance payments would soon cease as […]Read Post ›
A date for reflections of all kinds. For a lot of people it will be memories of nine eleven. Here in England that memory is I suppose slightly eclipsed by the death of Queen Elizabeth and the excitement of having a King Or a man queen as I read somewhere. Yet for me the memories […]Read Post ›
Thirty years ago my stepfather died very suddenly. He was sixty one. 14 years later my mother followed him. In this photo they are in front of Sheffield City Hall just after my graduation in 1976. He is forty five. My mother is 47. He is the slimmest he’s ever been. That day was one […]Read Post ›
Finally the sofa came. I am sitting on it now. I am trying to use the laptop so I can write more easily than on my phone. But I can’t connect to the internet. I don’t know why. Jacek is of course fast asleep, and I haven’t the heart, or the courage, to wake him. […]Read Post ›
Our plane was delayed. We had sat in it for an hour before it moved off. Then it did. Fast. Up and down. Too much turbulence for me. We were in business class. I was looking forward to my delicious meal. Instead we got something they called afternoon tea. But no tea. Little stale sandwiches. […]Read Post ›
Wednesday. And we’re off again. Is there anything more stressful than packing on a hot day to go somewhere even hotter. Luckily there is lots of time and I actually did most of my own packing yesterday. Work expands to fit the time available so I spent all day, running! Up and down the stairs, […]Read Post ›
When I was very small my paternal grandmother used to talk about going to the Prater, the ancient Viennese funfair with a giant ferris wheel. I never really understood what she was talking about, as the Polish words for Vienna and prison were virtually interchangeable in my childish mind – I knew she had lived […]Read Post ›
One of the reasons we wanted to go to Vienna was to see an exhibition of Kubin’s works at the Leopold Museum. Vienna’s museums and art galleries are mostly arranged in one area of the city, the aptly named Museum Quarter, so despite the raging heat and our incipient hunger we found our way to […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 