My eldest, as it turns out, did have half a good idea when she suggested carrying some stones for my fox nemesis. The crap part of the suggestion was suggesting that I go out and gather stones and aiming them at the floor to scare him off, as opposed to a direct shot. The current tools were all reasonably close quarter fox ‘re-education devices’, the stones meant I could keep further away. I changed the stones to large metal nuts that I gleefully picked out, mumbling vengeance under my breath, in the hardware store. I weighed, calculated and scored the various bags of nuts. Not enough in the packet, too heavy, too light, too expensive and as Goldie locks would say this one was just right. Read More »
Category: black men
72. The Devil and Her Apprentice Do Not Wear Prada and They Live In Peckham. Part One
I recently mentioned the sad death of a man that I interviewed, in 2018, with advanced prostate cancer.
His name was Richard.
I have become great friends with one of his daughters, DeeDee. She would perhaps tell you that I have become the bully brother that she never had and never knew she always wanted.
I asked her if she wanted to update the blog and she was totally up for it. What I was totally unprepared for was the incredulous, heartbreaking story she would tell me.Read More »
69. Those innocent days when it was only a drink
It was a hurried, clandestine meeting, we could not meet in our usual place. I really had no choice, it was forced on us. I knew it was going to be difficult as we sat there in my car in the middle of a supermarket car park. I tried not to make it sordid, I hope she didn’t feel that it was. She looked beautiful, she had made the effort and I told her so. I didn’t have much notice beforehand, none of us did. We were not likely to see each other again for an unknown time. There was genuine sorrow and anxiety on my part. Selflessly, I didn’t consider her feelings.
Perhaps it was better that way.
I looked at her. She looked back at me. I momentarily closed my eyes as I stroked her cheek and ran my fingers across her head. I escaped somewhere beautiful, special and far away in her unmistakable perfume that gently caressed my senses.
I said goodbye.Read More »
66. Hit me with The Ten Commandments of Prostate Cancer Talks One More Time. Part One.
I decided while I am still job-hunting, that I would throw myself into as many Prostate Cancer talks as I could during the day. Those that have been reading this blog long enough know that they are not always as straightforward as they can be. For some odd reason, old Ellis can be a magnet to the unusual.Read More »
I Am The One In Three 