Henry AndersonSo, May 2020. 1 Hello! ‘Shinrin Yoku’ is a Japanese noun which means, ‘A visit to a forest for relaxation’. It originated in the 1980’s as a reaction to urbanization and disconnection from the land. I vote we add it to English! I’ve been leaving the house and experiencing the socially-distanced paradise of walking amongst trees. […]
Recent goings-on. Starting a newsletter during a health emergency seems frivolous somehow. But even in quarantine life goes on. So I sit in the garden, drinking in pale afternoon sunshine while April birdsong fills the air. Also the next door neighbour’s lawnmower fills the air. Fiction I am on a laptop writing a sequel to […]
The most valuable piece of advice anyone ever gave me came from a nurse called Michael in psychiatric hospital. He wore tinted glasses and had a loud, biblical voice. At that time I had been ill with M.E for more than a decade, and it had made me acutely depressed. He said all of us […]
It’s Michaelmas today (September 29th), traditionally marking the end of harvest. At this time the number of animals kept over winter (and fodder needed to feed them) was worked out. It is also a day associated with the beginning of autumn. It is with a touch of melancholy I must report, that, as I type […]
Audiobooks Saved my Life. I lay silent for months, unable to move. Then, one day, words come out of the darkness and exploded in my ears. Not everyone likes talking books. “You’re not getting the whole thing”, my friend Dave once claimed, “just an actor’s interpretation of it. I want to read it for myself.” […]
