With Christmas on the way, I’ve done what I always do in
times of crisis. I’ve turned my
attention to things that don’t need to be done. I do have a list – well it’s not quite linear – in my head of
essential jobs, but I’ve spent the morning reading about the genome of Cichlid
fish who live in a tiny volcanic crater in Africa. I’ve learned something I didn’t know – that these fish are
capable of sympatric speciation. Not content with this amazing discovery, I
overdosed on new information on drugs to combat stomach bacteria that encourage
hardening of the arteries and then couldn’t resist an article on cellular
activity that affects memory.
I haven’t showered.
I haven’t dressed properly. The
postman could arrive at any minute and the hoover needs a full service before I
use it. My sister is arriving in three
hours, my son will be home for lunch in one, the dishwasher needs salt and I’m
almost out of deodorant.
I turn to the past for consolation. Yesterday, I fixed the car with the help of
the Internet (finding the right cap for the coolant – did you know that there
are two types of coolant? One has to be
diluted, the other is ready-mixed). I
also bought four Christmas presents, wrapped them and put them under the tree, I
bought a turkey with a best before date of 21st December (an easy
mistake to make), had two tyres replaced on my old Peugeot (French language
challenge), made a cheese and onion sandwich, and looked out of the kitchen
window at the lawn, trying to decide whether I should get the mower out. I’ll have a look again today.
Oh, and I published a short story called ‘Christmas Tree’
(the title came to me in a moment of inspiration). Rarely have I been known to publish anything at the right time.
Right (that’s me, being decisive). That’s all for now. If I
don’t get back to my blog before the big day, I hope you all have a very happy
Christmas. I’m going to steel myself
against further distractions and do some chores – I must just look up the
etymology of ‘chore’…
