I’m ambivalent about mountains. On the one hand I’m very acrophobic around bridges, high buildings, and mountain roads: as a child I baulked at going up the Monument in London, more recently I used to be nervous about driving across the Forth Road Bridge, and driving over the Viaduct de Millau is the stuff ofContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 150”
Tag Archives: books
Through a glass darkly – 146
We are just back from a week down south, with the children and grand-children, and I have been re-reading Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, published in 1945 the year I was born. I guess this book has been around all my life. There was certainly a paperback copy in our house in Wimbledon Park Road, theContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 146”
Through a glass darkly – 145
Hedgehogs have never been a major part of my life. In our early days in Paris, Susie and I had a hedgehog that regularly visited our [first floor] garden. In the very hot summer of 1976 we fed the animal with stale baguette and milk [a big mistake – See below]. And the hedgehog leftContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 145”
Through a glass darkly – 142
Susie and I were married on Saturday, January 11th, 1975. It seems a long time ago. I had just started working in Paris for Oxford University Press, and had travelled up from London on the train the previous day. Susie had given up teaching in Oxford the previous summer, and had been living at homeContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 142”
Through a glass darkly – 140
Books, books, books I’ve read 95 books during this past year, according to my omniscient MacBook. And I may well push on into three figures over the next ten days. It’s nothing to be proud of; Susie complains that I always have my nose in a book. The truth is that, because of a troublesomeContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 140”
Through a glass darkly – 138
The trivial round: 1 It has been freezing cold in Edinburgh in recent weeks. Our lives have been much enriched by a new walk-in shower and the purchase of an electric blanket. Which makes it easier to go to bed on cold nights. But harder to get up on cold mornings. I hobble around theContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 138”
Through a glass darkly – 137
A shrinking world As autumn turns to winter it has been a quiet few months. Susie and I limp around, as if preparing for a Senior Citizens’ three-legged race. We had a day down in Berwickshire at the beginning of October, when I was preaching in Fogo. An old village church and a welcoming congregation.Continue reading “Through a glass darkly – 137”
Through a glass darkly – 124
Back to school again With hindsight I may have over-invested in the 60 Years On reunion down at CH. It was a long way down and back on the train, and involved two nights in a modest but friendly hotel in Horsham. For what was in truth a modest event: mid-morning gathering for coffee; aContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 124”
Through a glass darkly 