On a day out to Palmerston North recently, we took an unexpected detour. Most detours are tedious interruptions involving traffic cones and tortoise-paced driving. Not this one. This one was a spontaneous decision triggered by the sight of the SPCA sign at the side of the road. Shall we go in? we said. The previous…
Category: health/chronic pain
Walking Sticks & Freedom
This morning was one of those grey-white, mizzly days. Warm, and not quite raining, but the sun seemed to have decided to stay in bed, wrapped up in the snuggly folds of duvet-clouds. I, on the other hand, was fizzing with energy (rare, and not-to-be-wasted), even after a shower. So after breakfast, we decided to…
Watching the Birdies
Our avian wildlife put on quite a show for us on Friday morning. We keep a bag of birdseed by the front door, and every morning pour handfuls of it on the fence outside our dining-room window, so we can watch the birds foraging while we eat breakfast. We always see a swarm of squabbling…
Learning to Live With It
It’s the middle of winter here in New Zealand, and we’re already seeing signs of new life all around. It’s a gorgeous, sunny day today so I’ve just had a traipse through my garden. It’s heaving with welcome signs of spring, like the purple flowers starting to put out their spears on the hebe shrub,…
Sounds of Silence: TN and Tinnitus
Silence is golden – or so it’s said. I wouldn’t know. I always thought silence was a utopian exaggeration. An absence of ambient sounds with plenty of space for background noise to make itself known. A fantasy state dreamed up by children-should-be-seen-and-not-heard types as an excuse to punish children who took the ‘seen’ part of…
Sixteen Habits of Mind
June 1st. Here in New Zealand that means the last, colourful leaves of autumn drifting off from the trees. It means the feijoa and passionfruit crop is over for the year, and it’s time to prune the trees to replenish and make room for spring growth. Time to buy that electric blanket to replace the…
Distractions & Diversions
There’s a change in the air. The tropical, coconut lemony smell of summer has faded. The air is thinner, clearer. Last week, the air was thick enough to wrap around us like a blanket – now it’s more like a filmy sheer curtain, with a window behind it letting in an uncomfortable draught. Most days…
The Words in my Notebook
Words – I love words. Words that probe and words that play, words that delve and words that dance. Words that explain, words that explore. I’m not so keen on words that complain and words that hurt, but they do have their uses. I have notebooks full of words. What writer doesn’t! But some of…
Why Trigeminal Neuralgia Needs to Lose its Nickname
Billy Bones. Roribug. Little Bear. Flop-Eared Houndybeast. These are some of the nicknames I have for my daughter and grandchildren. Well, the last one belonged to our dog, who had many and varied nicknames. The kids don’t have floppy ears. I’m sure we’ll all be familiar with the concept of nicknames as affectionate (or otherwise!)…
Getting a Slice of the Cake
Change. A single, soft-spoken syllable. Yet it’s a powerful little creature, reaching into every corner of our lives. Sometimes it’s an invitation – welcome and exciting. Sometimes it’s a burden – disruptive and frightening. It’s a bundle of contradictions: progress and retreat, secret and flamboyant, havoc and harmony. It can bounce into our lives with the…
Verve 