Thanks for dropping by. I'm a writer and teacher with interests in education, mental health and community. I like to wonder aloud about everyday life, hope and the silly, incongruous things that shape us and make us who we are. I also like hats, cake and those tiny little snores cats make when they sleep. On the Home page, you'll find around 100 wonderings, all different in length and content. Click on any post to keep reading and to subscribe, if you'd like to. You can click on the tabs to find out more about me and my other writing. Have the best kind of day. Deborah x
Many of us have an activity or two in life that transforms us. We change from generally likeable, easy-going types in cardigans, into red eyed gremlins, waving pitchforks. For some, it's the supermarket shop, for others, driving (I know a clutch of normally gentle, mild-mannered people in the latter group). Whatever our intentions beforehand, the … Continue reading The Bad-tempered Cleaning Company
"What colour is snow?" The child had topaz coloured eyes and dimpled cheeks like punched dough. "Well," I looked down at him, puzzled, wondering if the cold had turned his head. Building snowmen on the field with thirty nine and ten year olds had pretty much turned mine, but I didn't want to be rude. … Continue reading The Colour of Snow
The old man leans on the gate at the edge of the park. It is heavier than he remembers but then so are most things. Like his own stomach and the bag of weekly shopping. He sighs. If only he had taken better care of himself when the whole damn thing had started – the … Continue reading Waiting for Dad
"...If you listen carefully, the earth is singing." I swung round sharply. The two girls nearly crashed into me, their hands cradling petri-dishes filled with wood lice, ants and a fat snail with a shell crisis. I had one of those rare moments of tenderness. "That's beautiful," I said, "Really beautiful!" They looked up at … Continue reading The eye (and ear) of the beholder
Sleep mode - the pc stays on but uses low power. Apps stay open so when the pc wakes up, you're instantly back to where you left off. When I was younger, I could sleep anywhere. I've spent nights on floors, coaches, trains and under stars on the side of mountains. Once, memorably, I slept … Continue reading Sleep mode
It feels like it happened yesterday. Though in fact it's fifty Christmases since we were in our little house by the sea. Funny how the intense impressions of youth are saved forever on your hard-drive, whereas why you came to the Post Office remains a mystery. The kind Indian man has eyes that twinkle as … Continue reading One Moment One Christmas
Call me sad but I loved Latin verbs. At an all-girls school, stuffed with hormones and self-obsession (I levelled out but have recently declined again - for obvious reasons), Latin verbs were immensely comforting. Like the shipping forecast , there was a predictability, a rhythmic quality to the conjugations that soothed you, suspended time and … Continue reading Prayer, Advent and Latin Verbs
I'm trying to decide how to age. Not on the outside - I have little choice about that and am coming to terms with veiny hands and neck wrinkles like the skin of a T Rex - but on the inside, where it counts. After all that's the only part I can control. Like when … Continue reading How to Age and the Joy of Nasal Flushing
The old man leans on the gate at the edge of the park. It is heavier than he remembers but then so are most things. Like his own stomach and the bag of weekly shopping. He sighs. If only he had taken better care of himself when the whole damn thing had started – the … Continue reading Waiting for Grandad
What do you do on a thin day in winter when you’re not at work, your To Do List is vile and the air outside beckons with cut glass finger? You go out of course, with your husband or your friend, to Richmond Park. You worry you’ll regret this later because there are decisions and … Continue reading Moles and Glimpses of Things
