One of the great joys of summer must be listening to the male blackbirds singing their hearts out, trying for all they’re worth to find a mate. I have always felt for these beautiful creatures, whose songs are the very essence of English summertime. I found myself this week wondering what happens to the poor […]
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I’ve been a little subdued on the blog front for the last few months – a source, no doubt, of some consolation and relief to many of you. One of the reasons for that has been that I rather felt like I’d told my story, and since then things have been somewhat quiet and uneventful, […]
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For some obscure reason, I have toddled through life thinking of electrical power supply as being based on positive and negative rather than live, neutral and earth. This might explain why I have never pursued a career as an electrician (I would have been lethal, and most likely either dead or imprisoned for manslaughter). It’s […]
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Working with a cancer diagnosis In his play, Huis Clos (or ‘No Exit’), Jean Paul Sartre penned the memorable line “L’enfer c’est les autres”.. quite literally “Hell is other people”. That’s a tad harsh, JP, don’t you think? In my experience, people, more often than not, are kind-hearted, good and thoughtful. Except for people who […]
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Life, for all of us, consists of ups and downs, joy and glumness, and a fair few triumphs and disappointments. Maybe also, a smattering of ill-advised ventures that, once embarked upon, it quite rapidly becomes apparent that it would have been a better idea never to have started. Picture the scene – a Norfolk coastal […]
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I had thought, after my previous blog posts, that I’d rather reached an end of sorts. I have derived much pleasure from writing them, and from the wonderfully generous comments people have made in response, but I wasn’t sure what else there was to say – at least, I didn’t think there would be until […]
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Writing the first three of these blogs has proved, for some reason, a lot easier than summarising the journey and what it means. You see, the thing is, I’m currently – as far as I know – not in any particularly imminent danger of conking out, so it seems like a peculiar mix of pomposity, […]
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I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, although I am hardly alone in that respect, I’m sure. With respect to cancer, I now realise that, given just how extensive and life changing the prostate surgery had been, and the statistical assurance from the surgeon that I was very likely to be clear […]
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Over 360 years, the Royal Marines have created bonds of brotherhood that can be difficult to explain to those who haven’t experienced it themselves. To the extent of trusting each other with our lives. I felt this often during my career in the Corps, and particularly during the Falklands campaign in 1982, leading this band […]
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Cancers seem to be divided into two categories… cancers of things you could point out on a body, like your brain or bowel or lungs. And cancers you might struggle to locate so readily, such as duodenum, pancreas and prostate. You know, bits of you that have no doubt got terribly important things to do, […]
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