Shattered

Jane noticed it first, a sort of a knob on the elbow. A watery knob, to put a finer point on it. Elbows being inherently knobby, a knob on top of a knob. It may have been Jane who looked looked up the matter on the web. Bursitis. A guess heartily reinforced by Perry, PT assistant, who arrived the next morning for the usual bout of stretching and kneading, a.k.a., range of motion. Your doctor may want to stick a needle in that, he observed, drain it...the very thought of which drained me. And it's Read more [...]

My Way

Nothing like camping at the start line when you have to run a race. Thus my last evening at the Paddington Hilton, Jake residing in the adjacent room. And so it came to pass that shortly after 7 AM, the communicating door opened, and my cousin's son emerged. To help me with my socks. And to pack those last noisome items. This concluded, all was concluded. There was simply nothing more to do but enter a lift in the hotel and emerge onto the platform, almost. No more than 30 meters to the Heathrow Read more [...]

The 88

It must be time to head home. I am getting angry at myself for everything, and for anything. And for what? Never mind. This is my reflexive response, and at age 66 what can one do but hang on for the increasingly rough ride? Not to be overly pessimistic. In fact, when I inhale, take several deep breaths, and think about the unfolding day...well, I haven't done badly in the life department. It's just that I haven't done enough. Not that I can define what 'enough' would look like. No, not Read more [...]

Waisted

London is the place to be, I am more or less thinking as the day dawns. It should dawn late being the first of the new year, but my eyes burst open early, and what is there to do but throw the legs off the edge of the mattress and rise to the occasion? The real occasion is over, of course. New Year's Eve in the Paddington Hilton featured the booming bass notes of some unseen party somewhere, complete with the occasional run of a sitar and the general sense of a Bollywood music track. What could Read more [...]