A poignant moment saddened yet moved me, in an unlikely setting. It was during an administrative registration for health insurance. The agent, a very nice lady, apologised when her phone rang, and I said she should take the call while I filled in forms. She did, and it seemed routine at first. Later something was […]
I haven’t been here in a while. I’ve been distracted. Here’s why. On the one hand, I am fantastically relieved to have received an extension to my visa, which allows me to stay in the country one more year. This was a rather nerve-wracking procedure. Even with a qualified, accepted agent guiding me every step […]
It goes in cycles. I go barefoot for a while. Then tonight I saw a small scorpion in the kitchen, smashed it with a frying pan, and then despite local custom in Thailand which decrees this filthy, I now wear flipflops all the time inside. That’s until I get lazy and forget. Then the […]
It’s pineapple war. I did not see this coming. I’d cleared some of the Upper 40 (the uphill part of the garden) for future things not yet germinated, but I wasn’t quick enough. Mr Landlord has taken over this area and planted baby pineapples. I don’t like pineapples. I don’t eat them. Also, I don’t […]
Thorns and Roses There’s a nasty development in the jungle garden. Tiny dark shrubs with hideously sharp thorns are springing up all over. They are savaging my ankles, and have been very hard to uproot, until now. With monsoon and the deep drenching of everything, plus the sandy soil factor, and some luck, and […]
After two months away. I am back in my beloved jungle hut. It’s not really a hut. It’s a tourist-style beach bungalow with camping or hut-like aspects. I’ve have come and gone from it for about six years. That’s enough to see certain patterns become rituals. On return I: 1: Dust down the hut of […]
He was dressed in a beautiful black dinner jacket and white tie, while everyone else in the crowded lobby was scruffy, including me. He was huge, fat, tall, plain of face, and he looked marvelous, cummerbund and all. I couldn’t help myself. I had to ask. “What’s the occasion?” He stared, first at me, then […]
Carlisle was becoming scary and it wasn’t even sundown yet. There must have been a Saturday Special on boozy hen nights where they start at lunch and are screaming by supper, and even then it’s only the beginning of a night I don’t want to see. Or hear. There were three or four packs like […]
An elderly woman had fallen down outside the supermarket, and a small group were helping, keeping her company until the rescue people got there. She didn’t look badly hurt, but did look quite shocked. She couldn’t sit up easily, so a young man stood behind her, letting her lean against his legs and giving her […]
On the one hand, at the Wigtown Book Festival I was well out of place amongst all the Awfully Frightfully Rah-ther types. On the other hand, the youth events were all designed for and by under 25s, and went under the banner “Wigtown The Festival” or “WTF” for short. I really hope the oldies didn’t […]