Tom Cox's Blog, page 3

My Local Squirrel And I Answer Questions From Readers

Louise King (Facebook): Has the process of writing this new book altered how you experience walking through the countryside?

Tom: It has, especially if I define “writing this new book” as beginning in 2008, when I started to walk a lot in Norfolk, where I was living at the time. I am quite leggy and have always been a fast walker but in recent years have learned to be better at

Some Thoughts About The Creation Of My New Book

Neil, the older brother of my friend Glen, asked me the other night if I’d finished writing my new book yet. I was able to say yes, which was a great relief, not just because I had finished my book but because for months people have been asking me “Have you finished your book yet?” and I’ve been saying “Not quite” while inwardly wincing and - despite the many tiring hours I was putting in

Six Months In The Life Of My Favourite Local Oak Tree

17th December: Birds And Mist





28th December: Footsteps in the frost.





4th February: Burst of light at the end of a stark day.





25th Feb: Storm Doris.





26th Feb: Morning after Storm Doris.





21st March: Reluctant selfie.





19th April: Explosion.





1st May: Dandelions.





10th May: Everything is okay.





.

Have a read of something else I wrote about trees. 

The Beach At The End Of The World: Walking At Covehithe

Three years after I relocated to the other side of the country, going back to the top right quarter of East Anglia makes me a peculiar kind of dizzy. I can’t quite compare it to anything else in my own firsthand experience but I imagine you’d feel something similar if, after living in a normal-size place, you got shrunk and were awarded the chance to explore a model village for a weekend:

One Time In Some Trees Near Me

One time in some trees near me I found a stick with the wool of a hardy upland sheep attached to it and took the stick home. The wool had attached to itself to the stick as a result of sheer chance and possible sheep itch but the way it was coiled around the wood looked quite artful. It reminded me of a stick with some sheep’s wool attached to it that my parents had once received for

Tribute To A Gorgeous Foulmouth: RIP Shipley (2001-2017)

I have had a tough year and a quarter as far as cats are concerned. Cats get old, cats get ill, cats are vulnerable to the dangers of their natural UK outdoor environment and the actions of irresponsible humans. As someone who has been living with four cats in recent times, I am far from unique in being exposed to the heartache that goes with this. But over the last fifteen months I have at

A Brief Encyclopedia Of My Record Collection

A man once asked "Is that ironic?" upon seeing me wearing an AEROSMITH t-shirt and I was very restrained and polite to him in response, but I probably shouldn’t have been, since “Is that ironic?” is one of the most offensive things you can ever say to anyone about an item of clothing they’re wearing. Aerosmith have made some feeble music in their time but their brace of lusty, roaring

One Winter

One winter a legendary amount of snow fell and school was closed and the phone lines in the village came down but when we picked up the phone at our house there were sometimes strangers instantly there on the line. During the same epoch in British history adverts were broadcast during the intermissions in films and sport coverage that I stayed up late to watch that told you about phone

Goodbye, Kind Friend: RIP The Bear (1995-2016)

My cat The Bear died yesterday morning. I’m pretty sure I know the exact moment he died because at about 2.40am I woke with a full body jolt that felt like a benevolently intended electric shock and my house felt very different to how it had ever felt before. A few hours later, as the lazy winter sun was finally beginning to rise over the line of bare trees overlooking my house, I went

Amazon Drone Complaints Department

"Was informed that my package would arrive between 9.31 and 10.12 and that my drone would be Kevin. Package arrived at 10.43 and my drone was in fact Ian."

"Drone dropped my new iPod in next-door-but-two's garden pond, then fucked off back up into the sky. Jenny from nextdoor-but-two said drone flew in a slight zigzag, as if still pissed up from previous night."

"Drone went to the wrong