31 January 2011
The end of 2010 brought a period of calm. Everything was coming together: I’d recovered from surgery; the manuscript was pristine; I’d had a holiday; family problems were beginning to fall away; work was under control; and Dad was bedded down in his new bungalow – healthy, happy and overcome with Mozart. Read more »
11 December 2010
Mauritius is a product of volcanism. From 13 million years ago, the Earth’s core punched a hole through one of its tectonic plates and began to spew lava onto the floor of the Indian Ocean. By seven million years ago, an island had broken the surface, 855 kilometres east of what is now Madagascar. By 200,000 years ago, the volcanoes were spent and the colonisation by life in full swing. Read more »
1 December 2010
With Dad ensconced in his new home, life got simpler. That week, my surgeon gave me the all-clear that I had my body back, which left me floating with happiness. The old routine was readopted, my muscles began knitting back together and, with some glee, I returned to the book. Read more »
24 November 2010
The pivotal phase, in moving our family seat from the Hansel-and-Gretel magical cottage, which – for four decades – had been a vortex of peace, companionship and spiritual harmony, took place across three weekends. Read more »
18 November 2010
I cope with the pressure through exercise. Since the summer of 2007, with the exception of three weddings and a music festival, it’s been relentless. Weekends are a jumble of competing demands: a creative project with a hundred strands; the tangled challenges of my extended family. Then, at 8.30 a.m. on Monday morning, my head snaps into work mode and a five-day saga begins – the occasional moment of tranquillity in a sea of fire-fighting, everything-that-can-go-wrong and one-crisis-to-the-next.
