I’ve missed the opportunity to break a ride with a pint and a bag of crisps, the chance of finding a sticky carpet and indifferent landlord (never was an expensive date;)

Christ’s resurrection to life eternal is a leap of faith too far for many, most notably the Jews with their harsh but straightforward Old Testament.

This plague has been like a mini extinction event, a dark line drawn in the layers of history.
But that’s not to say there haven’t been some good bits.

What a strange twelve months it’s been. After a year of Covid I’ve just been notified of my vaccination appointment. Thankfully I don’t know anyone who’s had their ventilator switched off, only to die shortly afterwards under heavy sedation, isolated from loved ones. But many do.

If nothing else, Lockdown’s been a time to read and write, so I hope this short story inspired by the work of a good friend offers some alternative to the book of Revelations we seem to be living through :0( Book 13)

THE SHORTEST DAY by Susan Cooper

Water is the softest and most yielding substance.
Yet nothing is better than water, for overcoming the hard and rigid, because nothing can compete with it.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

The last few months have been extraordinary and life changing for so many of us. I doubt we’ll be going back to how things were, yet as one door closes… there will be opportunities to make a better future.

This year my lads turned 21 and 18, so after rummaging through the memory cards, I made these retrospectives (vol might need turning up). Afterwards I was reminded of this perspective upon Gladiator – strength and honour chaps.

Max has been back here. For a year, he and Yaz have planned and dreamt of van life and as Lockdown bit they began serious work on converting a refrigerated van into mobile life support. With university disrupted, returning to home comforts and a garage of tools seemed a good option, besides, he and I…