The tragic, unacceptable circumstances which led to the death of George Floyd and the worldwide condemnation which followed, has dominated news broadcasts over the past two weeks. Black communities in England, Belgium and other European countries which have an imperial past, have expressed their disapproval of statues which commemorate the lives of individuals who were involved in the lucrative exploitation of African people who were shipped to the Caribbean islands and southern states of the USA to work as slaves. […]

I am minuscule, so tiny I cannot be seen by the naked eye. Almost invisible. My beauty is as bewitching as my heart is malevolent. Flaunting my crown, I strut back and forth across this world, subverting order, destroying commerce, and upturning civilisation. No place is too remote. No one is safe. I feed on weaknesses. My proper title is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Don’t you ever forget my name, for I am a remorseless killer. And me? […]

Reboot. An action that I usually associate with my computer. Due to the frequent use of Zoom, I have been restarting my desktop more often to guarantee that it will run smoothly and reliably while hosting a meeting. To reboot, I must close all the running programs on the computer, and then reopen them when the restart is finished. Rebooting takes extra time, but it is worth it. At the end of the process I have a more efficient device […]

We’ve all got the message now, social distancing is important and we need to stay 2 metres apart. But what is 2 m? Well it’s about 6 feet, 72 inchs, 0.009 furlongs or even 1 fathom. So how do we know when we’re at the right distance. This is much harder than you might think and it is why we use comparisons. How often do you hear on the news that something is the length of 2 football pitches, or […]

Everyone loves spring, leaves unfolding, seeds sprouting, birds singing and busily building nests. Spring always arrives, we appreciate and enjoy it or it passes us by, because we are so busy, travelling here and there, with little time to notice anything or stop to look. This year it’s different. We garden, dig, plant and sow and, like children, watch for new growth, for a mist of green. Every day we take a walk along the Comber Greenway, an old railway […]

Many years ago Don and I were members of a dramatic society. Every year we produced two 3-act plays, an operetta and a pantomime. The panto which stands out in our memories was “Cinderella” in which Don was a superb Ugly Sister and I was the Fairy Godmother. During our period of lockdown, we have been enjoying the sunshine in our garden, listening to the birds and being thankful for the lovely area in which we live. Many times, the […]