Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

Lessons in love encountered yesterday… Charles Darwin sailed round the world. After five years making discoveries, formulating scientific theories, he returned to England. In 1839 he married Emma Wedgewood, daughter of Josiah Wedgewood, the famous potter, entrepreneur, abolitionist. Charles of Emma: ‘I can declare that in my whole life I have not heard her utterContinue reading “Musing on Love – with Charles, Luca, Hosea, Henri…”

In the film “The English Patient,” Katharine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas) is introduced to Almásy (Ralph Fiennes), the Hungarian explorer. Katharine says “I wanted to meet the man who could write such a long paper with so few adjectives” Katharine talks about love to illustrate the importance of adjectives: ‘Love – romantic love, platonic love,Continue reading “Love – With So Few Adjectives”

Play… As a child I played with my teddy, played with cars, played marbles… played ludo… with a board, dice and counters… the Latin ‘ludo’ means ‘I play’… ‘I’m playing ludo’ is ‘I’m playing I play’. Growing up I played the piano, played rugby, played monopoly. Now I play with bits of wood at ‘Men’sContinue reading “Play, Work and Service”

I played Cluedo as a child, a parent and a grandparent… A murder’s been committed; there are six suspects, nine rooms and six possible murder weapons. At the end of the game we discover whether it was Miss Scarlet in the dining room with the candlestick or Professor Plum in the library with the dagger…Continue reading “Cluedo, Mysteries and Unanswered Questions”

As a child I was confused by the old hymn that started: When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, I didn’t know what ‘billows’ were. It sounded like ‘pillows’; being tossed in pillows sounded  like fun to me… …Since then I’ve got beyond the first line andContinue reading “Billows and Pillows”

When skies grow dark and all we see are shadowsThe road too rough, the mountains rise too farWhen pain runs deep, and wounds cry out for answersWe come to you, O Jesus of the ScarsWhat other god chose to be born in weaknessKnew toil and tears and felt our deepest woe?Then to a cross, toContinue reading “Jesus of the Scars”

It’s all kicking off in Lowestoft today. It’s the ‘First Light Festival’ today and tomorrow. Inspired by Lowestoft’s location as the most Easterly part of the country and therefore the first to receive sunlight we shall have our ‘free summer solstice celebration of culture, creativity, and community’. Thousands will gather on our South Beach andContinue reading “Not For Me Thank You”

Yesterday I read… ‘Lowestoft: a faded Suffolk star is reborn’: Guardian headline. ‘With new arts venues, pubs and restaurants, fancy beach huts and a restored pier, the UK’s most easterly town is getting its mojo back…’ It describes various aspects of Lowestoft… a bit of history ‘Samuel Morton Peto’s dream being for Lowestoft to rivalContinue reading “Resilience”

At Men’s Shed yesterday Dave was chatting about St Petersburg. He’d been there professionally; he’d returned for a holiday. He showed me a coloured brochure of the State Hermitage Museum… Dave turned the page in the brochure. There was Rembrandt’s ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’ that’s on display in the Hermitage Museum. The pictureContinue reading “Dave, Rembrandt, Julian and Henri”

An assortment of birds come to our garden each day… purposeful, busy woodpeckers… families of blackbirds look after each other… stupid, waddling pigeons; a cheerful robin always comes to say ‘hello’… various smaller birds collect their food and leave… Recently they’ve been joined by a big, black crow. I’ve called him Colin. He sits onContinue reading “Colin the Crow”