Finally I am back after far too long a time. School is well underway and I'm already thoroughly exhausted. To be expected, I suppose. I have a good group of students and I think that we shall have an interesting journey this year. Some are struggling against the journey and others are obviously looking forward to it. Not much changes from year to year.
If I only had teaching to contend with, school would be wonderful. Unfortunately, our administration has its own little journey planned for us and I'm not sure that it will be as fulfilling an experience as our students may have. More on this as the road map unfurls. (Goodness, am I sounding like the American administration?) I've never been one for maps anyway. I believe in heading in the general direction and enjoying whatever comes my way.
My writing is at a stand still at the moment. I have lost heart, that seems my only explanation. I have the time but not the inclination. It could be that school starting has sapped all my creativity. This weekend, we will finally be on our own with nowhere to go and no one coming to see us. I will sort our my work area and see if I can kick start myself. I think that writing in this blog each day would also help. So, here I go again.
I have discovered a new writer, Winifred Watson. At the moment I'm reading Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, a charming, funny, 1938 novel that has recently been turned into a film. So many books are published each year that many are simply forgotten as the years go by. And who can read all the books that come out. I almost think that publishers should stop publishing for a year so we could spend time rediscovering lost novels, like those of Winifred Watson.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Family Reunions
The weekend just gone was a long weekend (or Bank Holiday weekend as they are called in the U.K.). Cliff and I went up to visit my mother in her new flat in Norfolk. It was the first time since she moved in that we had been there and I must admit that I had been feeling somewhat guilty about it.
The weather was quite good. One always starts off that way in any discussion of activity here. More than likely - especially this summer, and last, alas - it will rain, or look like rain, or begin to rain and stop after a few drops. Everything you think of doing revolves around the weather. Will we be able to drive, have a picnic, or go for a walk? And if not, what will we do instead! In our case, the weather was quite good - meaning that rain threatened and we had a few drops but that was it! If we had planned outside activities we would have been able to do them. But no, it's all starting to come back to me now. It did rain but not enough to spoil anything and so my subconscious has decided that it didn't rain. I went for a walk around the centre of Thetford (my mother's new village/town) and then through a friend's garden. How funny that I didn't remember the rain.
What does this have to do with reunions, you may well ask? My sister was visiting my mother and I hadn't seen her for at least 2 years. Also my niece, Lily, came down from Norwich to see us all and finally on the Sunday, my brother Peter turned up. It wasn't a big reunion, as you can see. However, it was probably a manageable size for us.
More on my mother's flat for anyone who's interested. For many reasons, she has decided to move back to the UK where she had lived in the late 70's and 80's. She seems to be ideally located in Thetford. She lived there for a number of years and still has friends, she is not far from my brother and his family in Norwich and she can get down to us by bus, which takes her into Heathrow. Thetford was not a very pretty town, the last time I spent any time there. However, it has greatly improved over the years. It also has a multicultural feel to it with Portuguese, Polish and Lithuanian shops and restaurants.
For our American friends, Thetford was the birth place of Thomas Payne, the author of the Rights of Man. Apparently, next year is an anniversary, the 200th anniversary of his death. What a funny thing to celebrate! However, I'm sure that Thetford will make something of it and welcome hoards of American tourists.
I haven't really said all that much about family reunions. Mine doesn't have them very often. How about the rest of you? Are they good things? Are families best remembered rather than experienced? I suppose it depends on the family at a particular point in time. I did find mine somewhat insightful. I have discovered that one of my siblings may feel jealous of the others and so calls mum, 'my mum'. I will have to think about that for a while.
The weather was quite good. One always starts off that way in any discussion of activity here. More than likely - especially this summer, and last, alas - it will rain, or look like rain, or begin to rain and stop after a few drops. Everything you think of doing revolves around the weather. Will we be able to drive, have a picnic, or go for a walk? And if not, what will we do instead! In our case, the weather was quite good - meaning that rain threatened and we had a few drops but that was it! If we had planned outside activities we would have been able to do them. But no, it's all starting to come back to me now. It did rain but not enough to spoil anything and so my subconscious has decided that it didn't rain. I went for a walk around the centre of Thetford (my mother's new village/town) and then through a friend's garden. How funny that I didn't remember the rain.
What does this have to do with reunions, you may well ask? My sister was visiting my mother and I hadn't seen her for at least 2 years. Also my niece, Lily, came down from Norwich to see us all and finally on the Sunday, my brother Peter turned up. It wasn't a big reunion, as you can see. However, it was probably a manageable size for us.
More on my mother's flat for anyone who's interested. For many reasons, she has decided to move back to the UK where she had lived in the late 70's and 80's. She seems to be ideally located in Thetford. She lived there for a number of years and still has friends, she is not far from my brother and his family in Norwich and she can get down to us by bus, which takes her into Heathrow. Thetford was not a very pretty town, the last time I spent any time there. However, it has greatly improved over the years. It also has a multicultural feel to it with Portuguese, Polish and Lithuanian shops and restaurants.
For our American friends, Thetford was the birth place of Thomas Payne, the author of the Rights of Man. Apparently, next year is an anniversary, the 200th anniversary of his death. What a funny thing to celebrate! However, I'm sure that Thetford will make something of it and welcome hoards of American tourists.
I haven't really said all that much about family reunions. Mine doesn't have them very often. How about the rest of you? Are they good things? Are families best remembered rather than experienced? I suppose it depends on the family at a particular point in time. I did find mine somewhat insightful. I have discovered that one of my siblings may feel jealous of the others and so calls mum, 'my mum'. I will have to think about that for a while.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Hard getting back into the routine
I'm having a hard time getting back into my old routine. Going back to school is a real killer physically. I feel as if I want to take a nap every few hours and of course I can't do that. I'm sure that I'll get the hang of it sooner or later. I'm also having a problem getting back into writing. I stopped in New York and on the Queen Mary, other than sketching out some ideas. Emma and I worked on our joint novel and got the basic plot line down along with the major characters. However, my novel (6 chapters already written) didn't progress at all. In part the problem is a dearth of ideas for the second half. I know how it ends but not how I get there. Whenever I stop writing for a while, the same thing happens. I dry up. the more I write the more ideas I have and the more I can write so obviously I just have to start writing again, no matter what it is. I'll try to get back to 1000 words a day. When I write at that level I seem to be at most productive and creative. Now to find the time when I'm not tired!
Monday, 18 August 2008
Monday morning
This will be the first week of our school year. The students don't start until Thursday and it will be interesting to see how many families have come back from holidays so early. I am looking forward to my classes starting. However, I'm not as certain that the out of class life of our secondary school will be as satisfying.
I must admit to being a bit off kilter since coming back from the states. I can't settle to anything and feel depressed because I'm not getting anywhere with anything. It's just a matter of starting, I suppose. I haven't written anything since before the trip! This is not good for me. Tonight, I'll start back!
I must admit to being a bit off kilter since coming back from the states. I can't settle to anything and feel depressed because I'm not getting anywhere with anything. It's just a matter of starting, I suppose. I haven't written anything since before the trip! This is not good for me. Tonight, I'll start back!
Friday, 15 August 2008
I'm back
It's been a long time since I last wrote here. I was off in Dorset at the end of July and then from August 3rd till August 12 Emma and I were first in New York and then on the Queen Mary 2 sailing back to Southampton. I might have felt badly about spending most of my time away from Egham if it hadn't been for the dodgy weather this summer. It seems to have been good weather for the garden, if not for people on holiday. I'm still trying to sort out in my mind what to write about my comings and goings so I will write more about them later.
I started back to work on Wednesday. Our high school principal for the last three years has stepped down and for the last three days we have had an introduction to our new one. So far, it is neither a happy introduction, nor a very comfortable fit. It will interesting to see who survives and in what condition!
I started back to work on Wednesday. Our high school principal for the last three years has stepped down and for the last three days we have had an introduction to our new one. So far, it is neither a happy introduction, nor a very comfortable fit. It will interesting to see who survives and in what condition!
Monday, 21 July 2008
Am I an ostrich?
Sunday, I was reading the Observer, when I discovered myself shuddering at the title of an article and quickly moving on to another, less disturbing one. I skipped right over the disappearance of honey bees and onto something which I don't even remember now. However, the bees are haunting me. I know that I should read about them but I'm worried about what I'll find. More importantly, I know that I will end up feeling even more impotent than I do now. I can't do anything about their disappearance so should I let it prey on my mind nonetheless? Perhaps, if I knew the facts, I could spread the word to others who might be able to help. The paper is sitting in the corner of the room and will go into my recycling box tomorrow. It keeps niggling at me.
So, what do we do about all the information we receive from various media. I have taken to listening to World Service news before I get up to find out what is happening in the world. Then I either ignore TV and radio or watch a video. Thus, I find that I'm much happier going into the day, not knowing about the nose dive of the economy or any other particularly depressing revelation about society in general. Is this a cop out? Should I take my head out of the ground or does a sensible restriction of input from media help to keep me on an even keel. something to contemplate as I work in my garden today.
So, what do we do about all the information we receive from various media. I have taken to listening to World Service news before I get up to find out what is happening in the world. Then I either ignore TV and radio or watch a video. Thus, I find that I'm much happier going into the day, not knowing about the nose dive of the economy or any other particularly depressing revelation about society in general. Is this a cop out? Should I take my head out of the ground or does a sensible restriction of input from media help to keep me on an even keel. something to contemplate as I work in my garden today.
Friday, 4 July 2008
Back from a very nice place
When I say that I'm back from a very nice place, I mean both in a physical sense and an emotional and spiritual one. Cliff and I went to Othona for a week's break immediately after school finished. What a great way to come down form the stress of the last term of school, and most especially the last three weeks. For me, the time there has allowed me to recharge my batteries and to find my direction for the next month or so (and perhaps longer!).
I managed some time on my writing as well. As there was no Internet connection (except in a small corner of the quiet room) all of my writing was focused on my novel. I started by rereading the first 5 and a half chapters. I hadn't worked on the novel for about three weeks and so I had lost track of the characters. I wrote the rest of the chapter 5 and I'm into chapter 6. Now I'm started again, I must make sure that I keep up the momentum because I would like to finish my first draft by the end of my holidays.
I had forgotten what it was like to be somewhere where there is very little noise. For the majority of the time, you couldn't hear the traffic from the road, there were no radios, television sets or CD players available except for special occasions, though we could have had a radio or CD player in our room if we had wanted to. The house was often completely silent. When there was noise, it was often the sound of voices involved in talk or discussion. There were also some who sang. I have come to realize how important silence (or an environment with less noise) is. Often times, I leave the radio or television on to have some noise in the background. I wonder why I do that when I feel so much better without it. I suppose it's a habit, one I would like to break.
I managed some time on my writing as well. As there was no Internet connection (except in a small corner of the quiet room) all of my writing was focused on my novel. I started by rereading the first 5 and a half chapters. I hadn't worked on the novel for about three weeks and so I had lost track of the characters. I wrote the rest of the chapter 5 and I'm into chapter 6. Now I'm started again, I must make sure that I keep up the momentum because I would like to finish my first draft by the end of my holidays.
I had forgotten what it was like to be somewhere where there is very little noise. For the majority of the time, you couldn't hear the traffic from the road, there were no radios, television sets or CD players available except for special occasions, though we could have had a radio or CD player in our room if we had wanted to. The house was often completely silent. When there was noise, it was often the sound of voices involved in talk or discussion. There were also some who sang. I have come to realize how important silence (or an environment with less noise) is. Often times, I leave the radio or television on to have some noise in the background. I wonder why I do that when I feel so much better without it. I suppose it's a habit, one I would like to break.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
