It's Still Life

I. Provexity

I. Provexity

Thankful to learn a new word:  provexity — the advanced state of being well grown in years.

A seventeenth-century word for great age, and far more elegant than simply saying someone has been around a very long time.long time.

II. Tick Tick Tick

Thankful for one of those rare days when every last thing on the long To-Do List earned its tick. No stragglers, no hopeful arrows pointing toward tomorrow, just the rather splendid sight of a page with nothing left to ask of me.

Then coffee in my favourite robin cup, because accomplishment deserves ceremony. Do-List was accomplished. 

III. The Roof Earns Its Keep

Still thankful for our solar panels. Even on a rainy day, the roof quietly bakes the bread and stuffs a few more miles into the car. And this week the sunflower seeds stayed obediently attached to the rye loaf, so apparently progress comes in many forms.

IV. Beating the Queue

Thankful that I beat the queue at the Post Office and got all the supporting paperwork off for my passport renewal.

The application may be online, but apparently paper still likes to make a ceremonial appearance before anything official can happen.

V. Delivered

Thankful that, after posting all that paperwork, I could order the groceries through an app and have them arrive at the doorstep. No queues, no stormy weather, no unnecessary exchange of winter viruses; just carrots, apples, and the quiet luxury of staying home.

VI. The Old Abbey Road

Thankful for a quiet walk, lungs full of fresh air, and a level track that feels kinder and safer underfoot.

This was once the road to the abbey, and I like to think the old path still remembers how to carry people gently.

VII. Time Enough

Thankful for time. Time to watch the tide rise, to breathe salt from a curling wave, and to stand still long enough for the world to come toward me.

I took this photograph on my phone at Pevensey Bay, where the remains of the old pier seem to keep their own patient memory of the sea.

VIII. Eight Hours Later

Thankful for the slow-cooker: throw in this, that, and whatever else is waiting in the fridge, clap on the lid, and walk away. Eight hours later, disorder has become dinner. Or, in this case, bean and vegetable soup.

IX. Readers, Sixes, and a Gargoyle

Thankful to everyone who stops by to read the Sixes. Next week, a new character enters The Heist: the Soup Gobbler, a gargoyle hanging about on a building near West 100th Street in New York, looking as though he has been waiting centuries to be given a proper part.

This week’s episode, with its own Suno soundtrack, is (click here)

X. Open Road

Thankful for a motorway home almost empty of traffic, which in southeast England feels close to a minor miracle.

And above it all, the clouds putting on a performance no one had paid to see.