As this next postcard instantly reminds me, they were holding a funeral the day I arrived in Tana Toraja; and the corpse was six months dead. To mark the occasion, two splendid white buffalo were slaughtered (quickly and cleanly), dozens of pigs were butchered (slowly and noisily) and there was hour after hour of singing…
Now here’s some food for thought. Real food, too. Which probably makes quite a change for many of us in these vitamin-fuelled times. At least you can now count me out of the millions here and worldwide who are buying vitamin supplements in ever-increasing numbers in the hope, and even belief, that they will improve …
As the saga of the postcards continues I have at last struck some sort of common thread. And it’s all about horses. Not all that deep and meaningful but at least it is a consistent theme extending over several of these messages of long ago. For once during my trawl through these newly discovered…
Family history never ceases to surprise and delight. It is an endless journey into the unexpected. Skeletons leap from cupboards and sudden contacts from hitherto strangers breath life into people who so far have been mere names clinging precariously to the family tree. This week, emails from out of the blue have unearthed another bag…
On the tarmac at Beirut International Airport: a Comet 4C of MEA SO, moving right along … The next postcard to take my eye among my recently discovered trove of long-lost messages home was another bog standard picture of an aircraft. This one is dressed in the livery of MEA, or Middle East Airlines, the…
We all know about the past being a foreign country [LP Hartley, The Go-Between] and in recent days I have come to realise how true that oft-quoted phrase can be. A large handful of well-worn postcards, wrapped in a torn plastic bag, have taken me back down the years and stirred memories that until now have…
Dilemma upon dilemma. Indecision resolved by decisions, which next day are quickly reversed. Back to square one. Is this the mental turmoil that all sportspeople face as the body slows and energy fades? The deciding when to quit. Common wisdom says the clever ones know when to stop. They accept the situation for what it…
Okay folks, I hear you. The hint has been made loud and clear. As the Walrus famously said: “The time has come …” Your message was writ big and bold in the sands and shingle of Marazion this past Sunday (and earlier in the year at St Levan): there is no recognition for geriatrics who…
There is no disputing that British restaurant food has lifted its game considerably in recent years. Search diligently, choose wisely and you can end up enjoying a reasonable meal and, if you are really lucky, one that represents value for money. But, really, it’s not all that good. The choice is limited to “safe” dishes,…
Since my recent blog bemoaning the loss of memory a bit of work has been taking place on stimulating whatever part of the brain is responsible for storing and recalling past events. I’ve been doing some ghosting. In other words, visiting old haunts. No need to wrap the body in white sheets and utter some…