The Athabasca Waterfall lies on the Icefield Parkway. It is just there, shortly after you join the Parkway from Jasper. The water falls down a canyon and flows into a lake. The colour is turbid blue from the rock flour that the waterfall has ground down along its course. The canyon is itself surrounded by…
Pan(ic)demic
What is terror? Is it that flash of white phosphorescent light that started in the innards and exploded soundlessly? First, a seizure quickened the pulse and the muscles of the heart, and then it dried the mouth, propelling every sinew, every nerve of the four limbs into a rush of running. It is definitely…
Pestilence
Sophocles’ Oedipus The King starts with lamentation. The priest cries A blight is on the fruitful plants of the earth, A blight is on the cattle in the fields, a blight is on our women that no children are born to them; a God that carries fire, a deadly pestilence, is on our…
Ephesus
Turunc is a small town with a post office, a mosque and a main street. The centre of town revolves round the bay, dirty brown sandy beach and the most wonderful sea blue sea that you have ever seen. The curve of mountains, the Bozburun nips it at the waist, a maiden's waist at…
Chekhov and Love
Chekhov's (1860-1904) love stories are not romantic accounts of unrequited love or of love at first sight. Or, even of tortured love that is amplified by the agony of being unfulfilled. No, these are Chekhovian tales that surprise and intrigue our imagination. Chekhov, exactly like Ibsen, knows his characters very well. He knows them well…
Murakami runs in Mizuno
Haruki Murakami runs in Mizuno. Not because it's a Japanese brand but because They have no gimmicks, no sense of style, no catchy slogan...Yet the soles of these shoes have a solid, reliable feel as you run. I run in Nike Air Pegasus for no good reason other than they fit me and…
Peckett Well
You have probably never heard of Peckett Well or of Midge Hole. Well, now you have. On Sunday we walked up from Midge Hole, just past the public loos at the National Trust Car Park at Hardcastle Crags along a bridle path that doubled as a mountain biking track. Crimsworth Beck to…
Pendle Witches Walk
Jan and I completed the Pendle Witches Walk this past Saturday, all 23 miles of it, in 10 hours! Phew! It was a bright, dry midsummer’s day with a light breeze. We started in Lancaster and first drove by coach to Laidburn where the actual walk started ending at Lancaster Castle, retracing the steps of the Pendle…
Train Journeys
My first train journey was from Kano to Lagos in 1961. We were in first class and travelled in luxury. Dinner was in the dining carriage with livery service. And, I slept in the top bunk in our cabin. My memory is of a single track with stops at sidings to allow the train…
Innocent Erendira
I first came across Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1977/78. That year, I had just graduated from medical school and was completing my house jobs at University College Hospital Ibadan. At last I was able to read for fun and I was earning some money and was able to spend on books. So, I read…
MindReadings 