I heard the birds first. The snow was still thick on the ground, the early snowdrops covered; my boots were slippery on the ice, and my hands chapped in my pockets; there were snowmen on the Meadows, and the sky glowed at night. But then, one morning, the birds: chirping, Read more…
A few days ago, Ben the collie suffered a violent interruption of normal gastrointestinal duties. Because he is a collie, he seemed none the worse for a few days – running, demanding his ball – except that he wouldn’t eat. He was ok, until suddenly he wasn’t: limp, unresponsive, collapsed. Read more…
The crisp tingle in the nostrils, so pure it almost hurts. A smoky tea to keep you company for long hours at your computer. Thyme in the community garden on the Meadows. The lingering coconut butteriness of the yellow gorse in Holyrood. The scent of a candle in the rain. Read more…
We awake to a delicate white fog. Across Edinburgh buildings are opaque, the air wet, the city enthralled. The filmy presence calls for quiet. The trees on the Meadows are stark and solemn; Blackford Hill is nowhere to be seen. The whoosh of cars and buses down the street sounds Read more…
Your inbox is full of emails. All the emails contain links. You are supposed to follow the links, which will take you to webpages. You have to read, and sometimes watch, the webpages. There is stuff in them that you are meant to know. There is even some stuff that Read more…
Over Christmas, my books piled high, and on a theme. There was Katherine May’s Wintering, a New York Times bestseller, about the power of rest and retreat in difficult times; the Chronicles of Narnia, beginning with an endless winter; and James Rebanks’ The Shepherd’s Life. As the Meadows disappeared beneath the snow, I Read more…
Back in March, a tweet of remote working guidelines from the Canadian federal government went viral. ‘You are not “working from home”’, it said. ‘You are “at your home, during a crisis, trying to work.”’ I liked this line. A lot of us did. It captured how remote working Read more…
This week, news broke of an effective vaccine against coronavirus. Pfizer and BioNTech’s RNA vaccine, one of 11 in the final stages of testing, has a 90% success rate in preventing the illness. The UK government has already purchased 40 million doses – enough to vaccinate 20 million of us. Read more…
With rising COVID cases, and the US election, it’s a pensive week for many. For this week’s MindLetter, we revisit how to look after ourselves in the midst of strong emotions and uncertainty. Hang in there. Responding Wisely to Fear and Worry The spread of coronavirus around the world is creating Read more…
As going on holiday is somewhat restricted this autumn, we revisit what happens when we go on holiday in the living-room… Staying on Holiday at Home It’s half-term. You have a week booked in Devon. You are, frankly, desperate for it. But your child, or flat-mate, has a persistent cough. It’s Friday night, your Read more…