Jane Alexander's Blog, page 17

The Mid Staffs Public Inquiry and my mother

I watched the BBC news this morning with a heavy heart.  Hearing the news that five other hospital trusts are to be investigated in the wake of the inquiry into the abysmal failings at Stafford Hospital.  For those of my readers who are not in the UK, the inquiry highlighted far-reaching neglect and abuse at the hospital, leading to a large number of unnecessary deaths between 2005 and 2008. 
It struck a personal chord.  I don’t know about Stafford Hospital but I do know a...

Stalking the streets of London

‘I’m early,’ I said.‘You’re cold,’ he said.‘I am?’ I said.‘Your cheeks are frozen,’ he said, concern scratched on his face. ‘I suppose it’s a cold night.  I only walked from Hackney Central. It took no time at all. Far less than I thought.’
I love walking in London at night. The darkness of a city has a totally different feel to that of the countryside.  Black on black against a backdrop (blackdrop) of tobacco yellow. The occasional scream of neon, of electric blue sirens,...

The Circle of Stuff

So I went to London, to help my friend move house.  It seemed like such a good idea – I would help her but also lose myself in cleaning and packing, in lugging stuff around and then reversing the process at the other end. Pass the parcel. Pack, unpack. A circle of stuff.
I even took my running kit, thinking I’d jog round the streets and parks of North London. But instead I sort of came undone. I unravelled.  I became more and more unreal.  And, as if to compensate, in a va...

Me and my ASICS gonna run away...

So, this running thing.  You have to laugh.  I’d just started up and was going great guns when the snow came.  Now, I don’t mind a bit of weather – for pity’s sake we were doing kettlebells by the river in driving hail the other day – but I’m not good on ice.  Instead of striding along in my usual fashion, I morph into little old lady mode, clutching cars and walls as I inch along.  Truly it’s pathetic.  It hurts my pride.  This guy I know shouted on Faceboo...

I wander...wordwise.

Winter bites. Not just around me in the snow and ice but here inside. My thoughts freeze; my heart aches with the fingertouch of frost.  And I cannot write.  Words desert me, they fly away like a skein of geese, high in the cloud-bound sky. Isigfethera. Icy-feathered. I sit and stare at the screen, my eyes glazing.  Bitter in breosthord. Sad in soul. So I get up, swathe myself in blankets and gaze instead at the snowbound pages of my notebook.   No joy.  It’s a n...

The woods are lovely, dark and deep...

The woods are beautiful in the snow.  Well, woods are always beautiful but, in snow, they become primeval.  As you crunch the slim tracks through trees you could imagine the wolves were running.  Silent shadows, sliding past out of the corner of your eye.  Your head knows they don’t exist but your heart smiles at their subterfuge. But really, here and now, there are deer, small herds of hinds. Startled, they stare, wide-eyed, then leap away.  A small dog in pursuit. ...

The last flame...

I went to see my friend Caz the other night.  We sat by her wood burner in her snug cosy cabin and I watched her drink the bottle of Cava I’d bought while I sipped a peppermint and licorice tea.  I admire Caz so so much. She works her socks off, lives on a pittance, has brought up her children single-handedly and yet I don’t think I have ever heard her moan. Not once. She lives life to the absolute max, sucks every last bit of juice out of it, rises to every challenge and says ‘Gimm...

Plimsoll nostalgia and the right trainers

When I was young we didn’t have fancy trainers for each and every sport. We didn’t even have trainers, come to think of it.  We had plimsolls.  They came in white or black.  Laced or with elastic gubbings at the side. Skinny soles. And the white ones got all grass stained and then you had to use that weird chalky stuff to re-white them (and now I can smell it!).  And that was it. Oh, except that for hockey (shudder, wince) we had a more elongated version with rubber circle...

I'll kill you if you die on me...

I’m wrecked. Shattered. Knackered. Every muscle in my entire body is aching.  And that’s good, really good.  If you want to get fit, if you want to get fitter, you have to keep challenging yourself.  Bodies are smart – they adapt very quickly.  If you stay doing the same exercise regime, week in, week out, your muscles will get used to it, you won’t progress.  Anyhow, doing the same thing all the time is boring. 
When my favourite classes closed down, initially I...

Life of Pi

So we went to see Life of Pi at the Tivoli in Tiverton (MUCH better than the Odeon).  Adrian declined the invitation so James and I fist-bumped and bought shedloads of the rustliest packets of crap we could find. 
Hate to say it but the Subaru performed rather nicely – in fact it positively flew along the valley road.  Now if I could only find a parking space where its bum doesn’t hang over the end…
Anyhow.  I’d read the book, by Yann Martel, and had kind of enjoyed it, alt...