Hermit
I am home alone like Kevin McAllister. Shirley went off with a bunch of local women friends yesterday. They have rented a house in a small coastal town called Hornsea which, coincidentally, figured importantly in my teenage years. It is just six miles from the village where I was born and raised. This morning I rolled over at 7am, pressed the button on our radio alarm clock and drifted back to sleep as the radio churned out news from home and abroad. I finally got up at 9am. Weatherwise, today was quite nice - bright and dry with temperatures hovering around 12°C. I considered undertaking another long walk somewhere but instead chose to tackle a job in the garden. I didn't even need to don a coat. Several days ago, I trimmed a little tree that hangs over the path halfway up our long, rectangular garden. This involved standing near the top of an aluminium stepladder six feet above the ground. It also required the use of a saw and secateurs. All through the winter, I had be...