Monthly Archives: June 2011

Somewhere in the Desk a Memory Lies

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

Her dad is eighty eight,  not in the best of health . There is no choice: he must go to a home. The daughter is worried but her day is filled with work and battling through the grind of middle age. She has her … Continue reading →

Posted in creative writing, Life, old age | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Where the heartbeat lies

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

I remember sitting by my mother’s bed in hospital as she rested. I watched her breathing rise and fall . Some infection had invaded her body and we were just waiting for “things to take their course”. Every now and … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Customs and Differences

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

Yesterday me and my partner enjoyed one of those universal pleasures which unite us all. We went round to see some friends and welcome their new baby into the world. They had longed for this baby forever and it’s arrival … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

My Brother’s Eyes

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

Who loves a struggling man uncertain of his place. A doubting prophet or a bankrupt sage. Bereft of friends who wanders on alone. All men are strangers in his eyes. Rushing through, it seems, their busy lives, their glance is cursory at … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Map Reading in Bad Weather

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

Some years ago I took my eldest daughter to look at a prospective university. It was in a medium sized city largely unknown to us. We had no satellite navigation and an ordinary country map to guide us but signs to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

One of the Awkward Squad

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

Once, in another life, I was privileged to walk along a beach near a school, group or colony of Sea Lions. I’m not sure of the correct technical term. What intrigued me about them was how fat, clumsy and lazy they … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Two sides of a Coin

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

On the Sunday morning we went for a  breakfast at an open air cafe  near a local bridge ,so we could watch the early morning activities of the  swans, geese and ducks . After sitting down and munching happily through our feast our … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

A Passing Moment

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

I watch an old man sweep the shopping mall as though he is praying. He lifts his eyes to mine. Soft, brown and accepting. What history lies buried in that gaze. You can’t begin to understand it but there is no challenge there: … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

we live in a house of many rooms

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

But many of them are unfurnished and unlit. Those rooms are the possibilities afforded by our personalities and abilities. Gradually, if misfortune strikes, we will turn off the lights of one room after another, till the warm and blazing mansion of personality is now some … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Golfing Anarchy

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Peter Wells aka Countingducks

When the girls were small I used to go out and play nine holes of golf at 6.30am on a Saturday morning so I would be home in time to play with them when they awoke. I enjoyed my golf but … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments