Welcome to chapter 3 of my serialised novel. You can find the previous chapters here: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Andrew and Michael are hiking up into the Lowther Hills, about eight miles north of Kirkgate. They’re taking a rough track towards a dense plantation of Sitka spruce and then heading for the open moor beyond.Continue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 3: Tracks and Trains (March)”
Category Archives: Domestic life
Heading Home: a miscellany of writings
In late 2020, on saying goodbye to four decades of work in academia, I resolved to devote time to something that had been bubbling up in my thinking for quite a while: the desire to continue writing, but to do so in a more creative and inventive manner. True, I’d recently written a biography whichContinue reading “Heading Home: a miscellany of writings”
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 2 February – Candlemas
Welcome to chapter 2 of my serialised novel. You can find the first chapter here Anne-Marie has become totally absorbed in her new score. It’s an ambitious homage to Nithsdale: 12 inter-linked pieces, each representing a month in the year 2023. She’s given it a name: Calendarium. It’s being created in ‘real time’, and scoredContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 2 February – Candlemas”
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 1 January – Rising Water
She had finally said it. After months of trial by separation, the verdict had been reached. The marriage was over. Spending time together at Christmas for the sake of the children, or in some forlorn hope of reconciliation, had failed monumentally. It was no fun being around a distracted academic who throughout the holidays compulsivelyContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 1 January – Rising Water”
My mother and the Christmas cactus
Now and again I have a sad reminder of a specific time when I upset my mother rather badly. There may well have been other occasions when I did something unkind or ill judged, but this one has stayed in my memory. Mostly dormant, it re-emerges at intervals, to provoke and disrupt. Just as itContinue reading “My mother and the Christmas cactus”
The frugal academic
Gary lived alone. A social scientist, he was good at structures, patterns and policies, but less adept in the world of relationships. Gary’s minimal approach to intimacy was echoed in the frugal aspects of his living arrangements. His home was a bungalow, well below his pay grade. Among his few luxuries was a pair ofContinue reading “The frugal academic”
Quotidian 