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  • Birds

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    One of the unexpected benefits of lockdown was the ability to hear birdsong a lot more clearly. We live near a motorway, and the reduction in traffic levels made us acutely aware of nature’s symphony. The magpies are a noisy bunch, seagulls easily identifiable and pigeons are distinctive in their…

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  • The Fountain of Youth

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    This year is a new beginning for me. I resigned from my job at Christmas and have time to concentrate on things that bring me pleasure. A slow look at the world is now possible without all the rushing about to earn a crust. Our garden is looking better than…

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  • Holyhead to Bangor

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    I have enjoyed many tootles on the ebike around Belfast over the last year or so. I was more adventurous yesterday and took the bike on the train to Holyhead to follow a coastal path to Bangor. It started well, the raised esplanade wide enough for cyclists and walkers. But…

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    Gutted

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    The problem with afternoon imbibing is the lack of focus. When I placed my bet for Portugal to beat Hungary 3 – 0 there was some lack of manual dexterity. I hadn’t appreciated the significance of that fumbling until the end of the game when Portugal wom 3-0. Why then…

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  • Euros 2020

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    Hungary v Portugal in Budapest with a capacity crowd. Lots of drama, the dives and fouls keep coming. My score predictions yesterday were rubbish, but the wee bets make the games more interesting. A winning bet would be nice though. France v Germany might be a good game if we…

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  • Protocol

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    As a smuggler of Spanish cigarettes, I am appalled at the difficulties facing those who have taken the trouble to make trade with Johnny foreigner and are then forced to forge a lot of damn fool documents in order to appease some faceless bureaucrats. Her Majesty would be horrified to…

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    Dasein

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    I wish I had been there, or you should have been there are often heard about great events. Usually it was a great sporting contest, like England winning the rugby world cup in Sydney with an amazing drop goal in the dying minutes of the game. Yer man Heidegger coined…

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  • DSLR…yes please

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    My new toy arrived a few days ago – a digital SLR camera. It is all singing and dancing with knobs on. I have already registered for the OU short course on digital photography which starts in October. To get me started, or at least give me a bit of…

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  • Reality

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    The old adage ‘reality is only for people who can’t handle drugs’ was very much of its time. Mushrooms were magic and most things were far out. Hallucinogenic drugs had experimental uses for those in the counter culture community. Apart from the addictive nature of drugs like LSD, there was…

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    Nettles

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    My son aged three fell in the nettle bedBed seemed a curious name for those green spears,That regiment of spite behind the shed;It was no place for rest. With sobs and tearsThe boy came seeking comfort and I sawWhite blisters beaded on his tender skin.We soothed him till his pain…

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