Author: Thomas Kelly
-
Airports, a memory.
I started this short post in France. The temperature in the departures at Toulouse was close to 35 degrees and all seemed to be dressed for the beach. Why I was wearing a linen suit is beyond me, but I do recall from the Gulf that wearing layers actually keeps you cool. However, last week…
-
What have I learned about France and myself…..
I don’t know France at all, the occasional Paris trip but that is about it. Gers where I have been staying is centred around Toulouse which hosts Airbus Industries. They often close the roads to allow wings and engine frames to be transported without hazard. So I am here because I accepted an invitation from…
-
Just when you thought it was safe to assume that the horses……
The weather has changed from cool to rather warm. The patchwork of fields are unmoved in the stillness of the morning air. The farm house is cool inside and the wall bricks start to absorb the morning heat. The house animals (caninds) stay close-by me, and are now sleeping on tiled floors, not wanting much…
-
Crow Hollow
Last night it must have rained, and sleeted hard. The clay ground on the track is slippery and drenched. I pull the collar of my shacket (combination of a shirt and a jacket) and that would keep me warm on my daily exercise up and down. Head down, I pushed my legs to make progress.…
-
A change of scene
I do not come from a family naturally used to horses, small animals yes, but large and unpredictable horses no! Part of my house sitting deal is ensuring that the two horses and maybe a Shetland are still standing each morning. Well, they were indeed standing and not only that, standing in the garden having…
-
Solitude
It is evening now. I walk down the farmhouse track, and at the bottom I can go left or right. But in front of me an ancient highway calls me to linger and then walk and brush my hands over growing crops. It is still warm, with only the noise of crickets to keep me…
-
France
After a week of pain in my knee and back, I set off to recover in Southern France. I wake delirious from dreams, sweat soaked from many hours resting and knowing that like a storm, this too will pass. Today, I can rise, and move slowly, one small step and one small victory. The trees…
-
Books, books and more books…
I have so many books that I can not sell or give away. But a thought came to me that, when the time comes, I need to take just a few on that journey. So as an experiment here are a few and why I have them. The first one is a book that did…
-
Dubai, 8 years further on
In 2018 I wrote a small piece about an airport arrival in Dubai. When work a career finishes and in my case, retirement loomed I left the UAE. It was a wonderful few years to live in Duabi after the quiet backwater of Bahrain and it was just before the expansion of Dubai that today…
-
C is for Cross Roads
Cross Roads Prologue: I am fascinated by the minutiae of what I have collected over the years, and more importantly kept. I always maintained a diary and the entries form the backbone of these recollections. In 1978 it was Standard Chartered Bank red leather diary, a sign of importance to me though it would have…
Tall stories 