My father-in-law has said quite specifically that he doesn’t want to come over for Christmas dinner but my wife hates to think of him alone again after the death of her mother a little over a year ago. My son’s girlfriend has decided that she will eat with her mother rather than join us after […]
Read MoreWalking the dogs with my sister she is telling me about a novel called “Lockdown” which paints a significantly gloomier picture than the one Omicron is currently treating us to. “I really hate this time of year,” she says, echoing the lyrics of one of my favourite recent Christmas songs, “Home Alone Too,” by The […]
Read MoreMy daughter is telling me about a post on social media where someone asks the question, “Which number do you open first on your advent calendar, 1 or 24?” After spitting my coffee all over the table she says that 9% of all respondents do indeed open their advent calendars in reverse order. In my […]
Read MoreMy daughter is concerned that we may have found ourselves with another ambivalent dog. “I thought Vizslas were supposed to follow you into the bathroom.” Despite the fact that she does much of the care during the day the puppy is sometimes aloof to the point of rudeness, bypassing the welcoming of an incoming family […]
Read MoreHaving spent the best part of four weeks carefully avoiding the right side of my mouth I am relieved to be sliding down into the horizontal of the dentist’s chair. It wasn’t always like this. As a child, I was terrified of the dentist or, more specifically, Mrs. Brown who, unlike her namesake from the […]
Read MoreReading an article in “The Atlantic” about how having children has a negative impact on happiness, but how happiness isn’t the only thing that matters makes me think about my dogs. I’m eating my breakfast as I read and the dogs are sitting next to me staring at my plate. Daisy, the older one, is […]
Read MoreI’ve finished putting up a trellis by the front door so that the jasmine can wind its way up and go some very moderate distance towards soothing the wisteria envy I have for the house on the corner. The fact that the trellis is slightly wonky I take as karma for doing a bit of […]
Read More“I like how these weekly Spotify playlists almost always turn up something good,” I tell my daughter. “It’s not that impressive. They just pack them with songs from artists they already know you like,” she says. It’s true, and it explains why, as much as I enjoy listening to music I enjoy listening to, it […]
Read MoreIn the fields the dogs are chasing one another, the puppy only in second gear because anything more is far too quick for Daisy. A hard as Daisy runs the pup slips away with a body swerve or a sudden burst of acceleration. The effort is pleasing Daisy, but she’ll never catch the pup and […]
Read More“I’m not sure how to help you,” I croak from beneath a blanket of heavy cold. Next to me in the car, my daughter’s face cracks and she begins to cry. I pull out another tissue and try to excavate the accumulation in my nostrils without much success. “I just don’t get it. I know […]
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