#atinylife WhatIamkeeping

Back to normal.

Back to normal by the Spring, they’re saying.

And most of me is delighted,

don’t get me wrong,

I’m in no rush to succumb to a deadly virus,

or bury a loved one,

and I miss the few friends I have left,

and I want to eat cake at Naked Bakery

and wander around Edinburgh again

and visit my sisters

(so I can argue with them face to face instead of online)

and talk to poets

and listen to their poems.

But I’m also thinking

‘what do I want to keep

of this not-normal?’

This slowing-down, even further,

staying in touch only with those that matter,

making things accessible to those who are always home,

no fundraisers

no duty events

sloughing off those expectations

– it’s time we visited, we haven’t been for ages –

being home, Saturday, Sunday.

#atinylife 2020 where?

There was a day, a few weeks ago, when I went outside and thought ‘It’s really cold out here!’

‘Although, I suppose it is November.’

How exactly is it November already?

When we went into our first UK lockdown, in March, I knew it was March. But I still kind of feel like it’s March?  How can 2020 be almost over?

I’m trying to remind myself what this year has been like, for so many of us. Many of us home-schooled one or more children between March and June: I had two kids at home, and although the school were great, there was a certain amount of ‘yes, you do have to do some work.’

Then in July, we moved house. That’s taken up just as much time and headspace as I thought it would.

Here’s to a productive 2021!

#atinylife wordsmatter

Words matter.

Bit of an obvious start for a writer, I know.

And sure, Biden isn’t a UK president elect, Nor is Harris our future vice-president. So why did I watch both of their acceptance speeches and cry?

I found the transcripts online – these aren’t off-the-cuff remarks, these are crafted works of oral history. And I thought if there is a word in these speeches, it’s there because it is deliberate, chosen. But I’m scrolling through and there was a word Biden used, over and over, that isn’t in the draft.

Folks.

Yeah, maybe it’s just how Biden talks. But it is one of the best ways to describe a group of people, because it doesn’t leave anyone out.

Words matter. The words you choose, matter.

They tell people who you include, and who you are happy to leave out.

#atinylife justmycat

When it rains, the cat is always outraged.

He comes into the office, where I am working, and meows loudly at me. At first I wonder whether he has been fed (of course he has been fed), and then I stroke him and realise he’s been out in the rain again. Oh dear.

Up he jumps onto the desk. I make sure he stays on Mr HB’s side with his muddy paws. After prowling around a bit so that I know he’s there, it’s onto some serious washing, using his teeth to pull the dirt from his claws, licking his paws to wash his face, fluffing back up into a dry cat. Brown prints all over the song lyrics he’s lying on, eyes still wide and angry, twisting his tummy up for a stroke.

That’s all really. Just – my cat.

#atinylife Hallowe’en 40

All Hallow’s

windy – wild

pumpkins flicker

candlelit food

window ghost

song sung

Devil banished

painted face

cardboard knife

apple tooth-marked

half-moon doughnut

wardrobe-squeezed sardines

lights off

let’s hide

found you

found me

full moon

veil thinned

spirits chased

light brought