The Case for Community-Minded Thought

Back at the start of this era of Coronavirus, lockdown and social distancing I remember reading that the health crisis would bring out the best – and the worst – in people. Over the last few months that prediction certainly seems to have been accurate – I’m sure we can all think of examples of…

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Slow Down, Sit Still

Summer wanes, the end of a season in lockdown. It’s been weeks since I wrote on here properly, barring a piece I did on the NC 500, and the Summer of discontent in the far north. I spent the holidays wrapped up in the cocoon of family, not venturing far, taking small steps around Caithness.…

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Hibernation Diaries – Sleeplessness, Outlander, The Province of the Cat and the Coming of the Blossom

This week marked my first foray into gloominess in this era of lockdown, Covid-19 and social distancing. I started the week with a pain in my back and a new bout of insomnia (something I attribute less to worries about Coronavirus, than the hormonal see-saw that seems to characterise my early forties). Added to the…

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Hibernation Diaries – Homeschool, Helping, Lost Shoes and Hopeful Sunsets

We are now entering week five of lockdown here in the UK (at least I think it’s week five – it could actually be week four, or six, and I’d currently be none the wiser). The days and weeks are melting into one somewhat, and a sense of routine is becoming ever more important –…

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Hibernation Diaries: Geese, Orca and April’s Evening Diamond

My blog has become something of a journal during these past weeks of lockdown, and thus it continues. It’s difficult, right now I think, to view the world without the spectre of Coronavirus, the effect it has on our daily lives, our families, our collective consciousness, our dreams. For the first time in living memory…

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When This is Over….Seven Dreams for a Hopeful Future

One of the things I keep hearing in this era of Covid-19 and social distancing is that when this is all over, things will be different. As I mentioned here recently, it’s left me wondering what will be different, and what will be the same. Do my dreams differ from those of other people, or…

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Snow, Spring and Promising to Remember

The last week has brought a myriad of feelings – anxiety, contentment, fear, comfort, positivity, helplessness, happiness. Stories that are not mine to tell mean that there has also been shock – and sadness – too. The devastation wreaked by Covid-19 seems to creep a little closer, reminding us that statistics are not statistics –…

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Life Lessons in Lockdown, Introversion and Dreams of Springtime

In the week or so since I last wrote the world has shifted once more, with another layer of the UK’s Covid-19 response unfurling towards ‘lockdown.’ Citizens are restricted to a narrow range of activities, with outings from the home permissible only for work, obtaining food or medicines, helping the vulnerable or partaking in one…

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Reaching My 50th Parkrun Milestone – And Why I’ll Never Be A ‘Proper’ Runner

A couple of weeks ago, I reached my 50th Parkrun milestone – a feat I never would have imagined possible when I turned up at my first Parkrun event around eighteen months ago. Back on that day in late 2018, I was looking for ideas on family-friendly activities for a stint on BBC Radio Scotland,…

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On Big Ideas and Creating a Community of Kindness

It might surprise you to know that our household does not possess a dishwasher. About a year ago, our dishwasher broke, and we decided to find out whether we could get along without it for a while. Granted, there was also an element of laziness involved – ‘finding out whether we could get along without…

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