Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

Musing on words from Ecclesiastes: The race is not to the swift    or the battle to the strong,nor does food come to the wise    or wealth to the brilliant    or favour to the learned;but time and chance happen to them all. …Life’s not just about the quickest, strongest, richest, cleverest or most powerful… Many sporting headlines this weekContinue reading “Making the Headlines”

Last night ‘Fabba’, a theatre company for adults with learning disabilities, presented their summer variety show. This wonderful evening of singing, dancing, laughter and fun included ‘My Way’… As a young man I heard ‘My Way’ in the late 60s. A strong Frank Sinatra looks back over a good life and takes responsibility for theContinue reading “My Way”

Yesterday morning: Remember Well: …Chatting with Jack about good people, good memories. Sometimes my memories just focus on the bad stuff… the need to remember well. Let Go Well: We talked about restrictions brought by age and infirmity. Things we used to do but can’t do now… I can live with regret, focus on myContinue reading “Go Well”

There was a picture of my friend Chris in last weekend’s local paper, handing over a cheque to a mother and her son… I met Chris yesterday afternoon and asked him to tell me the story. At some point I heard ‘autistic dog’. I deliberately misunderstood, imagining a lovely but challenging dog that needed particularContinue reading “Deliberate Misunderstanding”

We’re often warned against ‘putting all our eggs in one basket’, because if you drop your basket, you’d break all your eggs. Eggs should be divided among several different baskets…. However sometime a single basket approach is required: When I go married fifty-two years ago I didn’t consider the multiple basket approach… When an ambulanceContinue reading “The Single Basket Approach”

I remember this old hymn from my childhood. I’ve heard it presented in many ways; to me it’s not a carefully crafted choir piece – it’s a powerful story that must be told simply… There were ninety and nine that safely layIn the shelter of the fold;But one was out on the hills away,Far offContinue reading “There Were Ninety And Nine”

Love’s Patience: Yesterday afternoon we went to Ipswich to watch the young people of ‘Co-op Juniors’ performing Les Misérables. They did an excellent job telling the well known story of poverty, justice, loyalty, honour, redemption, and above all love. The show ends with Marius and Cossette’s wedding. Both have come through troubles and trials; bothContinue reading “Lessons in Love”

We woke up this morning to the news that Labour have won the general election with a huge majority. The Liberal Democrats are delighted with their results. I just watched a TV analysis; they’re saying that it’s not that Labour have won, more that Conservatives have lost, and their votes have been distributed around otherContinue reading “Politics – Military or Musical?”

Meeting up with teacher friends on Tuesday reminded me of our friend Phil’s school assembly story about penguins… As I recall, it was a long and convoluted story, that Phil swears was true, that ends with Antarctic scientists in a helicopter surrounded by penguins. The penguins watch as the helicopter takes off… the helicopter getsContinue reading “Penguins, Sparrow-Hawks and Woodpeckers.”

Yesterday I struggled to get the satnav operational on my phone. I know for most folk that’s no big deal, but for me it wasn’t that straightforward. Eventually successful, I used it to find Kevin’s house in the middle of rural Suffolk. I first met Kevin when I started teaching in Saxmundham thirty-two years ago…Continue reading “Satnav, Schools and Good Teachers.”