A Glassful of Life

Nude chocolate bunny beneath the Banyan, waiting to be strangled, or worse. Happy Easter. I am sitting here under my Banyan tree receiving enlightenment, I hope. Yes, it is a Banyan, but no, I am not Buddha. I love trees and when I saw this rather beautiful, and to me, new plant sitting alone but alert at my local garden shop, I spent no time deliberating before making the purchase and bringing it home. Well, I couldn’t have known the journey it would take me on: My first foray into Google told me that the Banyan tree has many different names such as Bo, Bodhi, Pipal, Peepul, or Ashvastha tree to name just a few and it said that it was the tree that Buddha sat beneath when he gained his enlightenment. Are you paying attention? Now, if I am honest, I have never had a great interest in Buddhism. Although, of all the world religions it seems to me to be one of the more peaceful ones. I knew I was going to write about my beautiful new tree in this blog post, so I go...

Photo for attention - not taken on the rollercoaster holiday - undeniably cute. Trish - Ivan (big brother) - Me. One of my life’s philosophies, is: “The only constant in life is its inconstancy.” I used to try to stop the ups and downs of the rollercoaster that is life, but found it was useless and so I am learning to accept the ebb and flow, the never a dull moment, and the never having time to take a breath before the next big wave hits. Obviously, the last few years have been one of the biggest learning curves for the whole planet, from Covid to war, with the underlying and ever-present threat of climate change. We are but spherical metal bearings in a pinball machine, catapulted from pillar to post. Another of my philosophies is that tried and tested one about the butterfly beating its wings that causes a hurricane on the opposite side of the globe. I like to imagine (though it may be wishful thinking) that we are all becoming more aware of how our actions, no...