Tall stories

  Dusk always comes early in Manama being closer to the equator than other countries. We expatriates who live in the villas by Adliya in the restaurant area draw down our blinds at six and offer ourselves large measures of Indian manufactured gin called London Bridge and whiskey named after that famous and well known…

Between the trees, we weave a path to the field; bracken brown and sodden. It is dead of night and the busy moles whisper under our feet. The moon, like a soldier with a lantern, keeps the midnight watch And small creatures who own the darkened land worry along their way. On the far ridge,…

Untipped. I drew a soldier from the foil and tapped the crinkled end, Compacting the tobacco dark and rich as Flander's soil And slip the smells back in the box. A match sparks against rough jeans and with cupped hands I nurture the flame to life. The red bulb, once safe explodes And with each…

Tangled web of dry bones, Reach up, still you have life, Touch the sky, stretch sinews And give us hope.

This weekend my father is ninety, yes ninety. What happened since in those years is a history of the world in a short space of time. 1932 was a difficult year. In the States, Roosevelt defeated Hoover by an landslide against the depression as a background. In Germany Hitler lost to Paul von Hindenburg in…

This year the heat is brutal, and in May was close to 35 degrees. We are fortunate to be allowed to drink water, sit in the shade and escape home when feeling tired. And in a corner of this churchyard stand four Commonwealth War Graves. It was a reminder as to how they could not…

At Malaga City decided to look at three famous pictures from Picasso at the Museum. It is recommended to book in advance but it is certainly worth the effort. I have chosen three that I photographed; three which in my mind are so striking. The more we look at the face here we see three…

The trip to Orgiva was a straight shot. 560 miles from Santander with a couple of stops for egg and chips, no naughty mistakes from Nelly my dog and ten hours later here I am. The weather is very hot, about 28 degrees and the house is a blank canvas; white walls, walnut wood beams,…

Farewell Portsmouth A week ago I turned 66 and wanted to take a different course for the coming year. Not only would I receive my pension but on a whim I had bought a house in the Sierra Nevada in a small town called Orgiva. I had a friend there who had dropped off the…

By noon the sun is white hot and there's no shade. Sharp sand crystals seep into my boots, lie in creases within my buttoned jacket and find sanctuary behind the folds of my red-raw ears. I walk across the rough ground towards the engine shed where my shift is about to start. Screwing up my…