I have just returned from a whirlwind, seven-day tour by rail (mostly) of these three great Scandinavian capitals – Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen – with Great Rail Journeys. Now that I am relatively recovered from all the extensive walking and sightseeing tours and the challenges of hauling my too-heavy bags from one place to theContinue reading “A TALE OF THREE CITIES: Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen by Rail”
Category Archives: environment
Life after loss: Moving on, looking up
Answering the question ‘what happens after you lose someone/suffer a major loss?’ is one of those how-long-is-a-piece-of-string-type questions, in that a. each person handles and processes grief differently; and b. the truth is that you never really stop grieving. Even when you move on, there is always that big black hole of sorrow inside thatContinue reading “Life after loss: Moving on, looking up”
POLAR EXTREMES
We may have time to learn a lot more about the processes that govern Earth’s polar extremes, but will we have enough time to do anything about it should another major extinction event be on the near horizon?
Return of the wild
While the Victorians have a lot to answer for in terms of their endless pushing for progress (among other things), at least they began to smell the extinction coffee long before their present ecological emergency and climate change-denying ‘Luddite’ descendants”
Questions for my readers: I need your help!
As this post-new year time of coming out of winter and heading into spring is usually a process of reflection and refining, I’d love some feedback from you on which topic(s) interest you most.
‘Blessed are they that mourn’: A very real calling in a time of climate crisis
Surely, at this time of climate and ecological emergency, the first place we as Christians should be is on our knees.
Porto-ohohoh!: Reflections on my recent salsa travels #2
Something about this arty, intriguing and deeply romantic city, with its air of failed colonial grandeur, has well and truly got into my veins
Un-Earthing meaning: Colin Caffell’s ‘Reflections on the Feminine – a visual essay’ at Penwith Gallery, Cornwall
It seems strangely fitting that artist Colin Caffell, who typically works with earthy materials (clay, bronze, wax, resin, wood) as a potter and sculptor (see his beautifully multi-hued seascape-theme ceramics below), should have chosen to highlight the very fragility of Mother Earth in his solo exhibition, ‘Reflections on the Feminine – a visual essay’ atContinue reading “Un-Earthing meaning: Colin Caffell’s ‘Reflections on the Feminine – a visual essay’ at Penwith Gallery, Cornwall”
Taking a Pulse on Climate: The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022
In view of imminent annihilation if we continue our current trajectory towards 3°C of warming, what can art say? Considering 18th century romantic artists were already mourning the loss of an innocent, agrarian lifestyle by invoking classical pastoralism in their landscapes, is any time left for discussion as the Earth burns and everything in it dies?
The Long and Short of It
Dear friends and readers, Since I began this blog in January 2020, I’ve tended to publish mostly long-form articles on topics of interest or concern to me, as well as interviews with various salsa personalities, etc. As most of you probably don’t have time to read longer pieces, however ‘worthy’ they may be, I haveContinue reading “The Long and Short of It“
Small Writer at Large 