Silent Philosophies

This room is small and
lined with shelves, where.
crowded, books on books
are stacked floor to ceiling.

A man is here. I sit and watch
as, while quietly reading, he
swings his foot. Back and forth.

Drumming fingers.

I sit...and sit...and sit.
Watching dirty sunlight creeping
through suffocating cloud and
ancient glass, catching falling dust
and floating
forgotton
philosophies.

Silent-ish air fills my lungs,
I breathe and taste, vaguely, paper
at the back of my throat.
Voices, seep through walls, dripping
puddles of poems and laughter
into this silence.

I hear a sigh, look up and
see the man has moved.
He stands, "hmmmmmms" and
stretches. Seeming to fill the
room from floor to ceiling.

Suited but not smart,
Faded brown cord, once-white
shirt. Decaying slowly, part of
this room. He belongs.

A nail upon teeth, tapping, thoughtfully
reaching for a book, hesitating. Fingers
linger over first choice, then the second,
torn between the two, then lifting
both from the shelf.

He places them gently, lovingly, on the
desk before him. They are old, worn,
well used. His fingers caressing the
ready to crumble leather.

He opens one slowly, gently... and in
the silence I hear the pages creak.
Sitting slowly, reading once more
I watch.

He himself it like a book,
Lines etched upon his face read
Experience, knowledge, love, wisdom,

And Time is his author.

Me and Fee

My lovely friend Fiona - ain't she gorgeous?!

HOT!

I can't believe how hot it is out there today.

And it's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow!

Unfortunately, I'm stuck in the office but to be honest, even if I wasn't, I think I'd be sitting in the shade today. I've just been out for a quick walk to pick up some paperwork and it's so hot that even during the 2 minutes it took me to walk between buildings I felt my skin burning. Who would have thought it - here in Scotland!!

You see so many people stripping off in this sort of weather - and you can't blame them. It's so novel to get such beautiful sunshine that people automatically think 'SUN TAN!' and it's short sleeves, vests and shorts ahoy! But I think the risk of sun burn just isn't worth it. I've been burnt quite a few times in my life and it's a painful experience.

I'd rather slap on the sun cream, wear a hat and sit in the shade these days. I'd rather be tanless than have skin cancer!

Pollution, global warming and the reduction in our ozone layer means that the damage the sun does to our skin is much, much worse than it used to be. And if human beings continue to abuse Mother Earth the way we are then it can only get worse. Perhaps we won't see it in our lifetime but the day will come where human beings won't be able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine because it'll be so dangerous and damaging.

Sad, but true.

Back to Work

Well today has been my first day back to work after over a week on holiday.

It's been great to get away and visit my family. It's been especially good to meet my new nephew Will who I've been lucky enough to spend a few precious hours with. He really is gorgeous - but then I'm biased aren't I? I know that David and Laura are going to make wonderful parents; they are already doing brilliantly and you would think they'd been doing the whole 'parents' thing for years.

Work today was hectic and very busy. Despite what has been previously mentioned in comments here I do not deteste my job. I recognise that being the PA to the Head of IT at NHS Fife isn't perhaps where I thought I'd be 10 years ago; but it's a good job and I work for a boss who appreciates me and the work I do for him. Something he said today made me realise that I must be doing something right - he said he'd missed me and didn't realise quite how much he depended on me before now. Nice to be appreciated isn't it?

So - it's back to the normal schedule. I'm currently waiting to receive a copy of the programme we recently recorded for Discovery Kids Channel's 'Mystery Hunters'. It was a strange experience filming for a proffesional company - but I really enjoyed it and am nervous but excited about seeing the results.

Thanks to everyone who's posted their comments here recently - it's great to know that there are sensible and generous people out there who appreciate diversity and individuality as much as I do.

Thanks again.