Sometimes all I want to do is stand and stare …
Flowers/Blossom
In Retrospect, Simon Armitage
In Retrospect The world asks a great deal of the poppies, insists they carry the wounds of war and shoulder the weight of remembrance. Such flimsy, wavering plants; we painted their flowers the colour of blood and punched dark holes in their heads as if bullets had passed through, then trimmed them with green sprigs … Read More
Spring: when, exactly, does it begin?
I don’t know about you, but I feel Spring begins when it starts to feel a little warmer and when the are beginning to come out. But according to those who measure these things, it’s not quite that simple. There’s Astronomical Spring which depends on the tilt of the Earth in relation to its orbit round … Read More
Flowers from a Stone
Flowers that find their way through stone or rock (or any apparently impenetrable surface) always touch my heart. They manage to flourish in the most (apparently) inhospitable places. I’ve been rewriting a novel I thought I’d finished last autumn. But when I couldn’t sell it I did what I should’ve done before I tried to … Read More
A Ukrainian Christmas
Business Ukraine Magazine reports that Kharkiv’s main Christmas tree has, this year, been put up in an underground station – to protect it from Russian air strikes. The magazine also retweeted the Washington Post’s report about Volodymyr Zelensky becoming Time’s Person of the Year: That a leader with no previous military experience chose to remain … Read More
Valentine’s Day Traditions
There are at least three different saints who answer to the name Valentine or Valentinus. One legend of St Valentine tells how, when in prison, he sent a letter to a young girl—possibly his jailor’s daughter. He signed it: ‘From your Valentine’. Some countries dislike or actively ban Valentine’s Day celebrations, some countries celebrate a … Read More
Worldwide Ways of Welcoming New Year
Different peoples in different countries do different things to welcome a new year. In SIBERIA, in Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake in the world, and in the River Lena nearby, a Christmas Tree is taken to the bottom on new year’s eve. It’s usually freezing. I’m not sure why they do this … . … Read More
Opening up set to blossom at home. But what about India (her vaccine generosity and her coronavirus surge)?
A beautiful blossom for our oh-so-close-to-lockdown-easing here in the UK. The Wayfaring Tree (Virburnum lantana): a sign you’re homeward bound. But spare a thought for India, home to the world’s largest coronavirus vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India (SII) but now also home to the worst surge in coronavirus since the pandemic began. It’s … Read More