La Palma has it’s own version of the stars in Hollywood Boulevard. Ours are stars from astronomyrather than show business and we don’t have nearly so many of them, but in October we got a fifth star, Jocelyn Bell Burnell. She discovered pulsars in the 1960s, so they gave the Nobel Prize to her boss and her boss’s boss, but not her. She’s physically a small lady. She’s 81 now,…
I’m not American and we don’t eat a special meal today, but I do like the custom of stopping to be grateful once a year. Actually, I try to notice things to be grateful for all year, but Thanksgiving brings it into sharper focus. I don’t think it will surprise anyone that I’m thankful to be alive. If I’d had no treatment for the cancer at all, I think they’d…
There’s no way I could work 40 hours a week. I can’t sit for more than a couple of hours together, and I don’t have normal stamina – I doubt that I ever will. But I don’t want to sit in a corner and rust. I’d love to work part-time, preferably something creative that gets me out of the house and meeting people. I want to sell my books and…
Between Christmas and New Year, I had a panel of specialists assess my degree of disability. I’d already had my application for a disabled parking permit turned down. A report from my surgeon saying, “I had to cut her leg off,” was insufficient; I needed that particular piece of paper. Well now I’ve got the magic document and I can apply again. There’s more. This means I pay reduced sales…
One year ago today I was wheeled down to the operating theatre without knowing how many legs I’d have when I woke up. The surgeons spent about 6 hours trying to save my left leg, but the cancer had eaten too far into the bone and they had to amputate, right at the top. So I’ve had a year to come to terms with it. I started by making a…
It only took me 15 minutes and it reduces stress every day. Is your New Year resolution to declutter the house? If so, congratulations. Most houses are better for it. A clutter free home looks nicer, but it’s also faster to clean and easier to find things. I’m far from a decluttering guru, and our house is very much a work in progress, but one exercise in decluttering stands out….