this was beautifully told. I can relate to much of what you said, as we also have a dilapidated, rotting and yucky smelling shed in our back garden (well, two actually).

I’ve wanted to rip them out and replace them with something that looks nice and clean and can actually be used for something like painting or writing or even just sitting and meditating…. but we have this long-term plan to save up enough money to extend the garage (behind which the sheds are… if you can imagine that), and of course then it wouldn’t make sense to put in a proper wendy house…. Meanwhile, winter after winter, the sheds fall apart a little more…

It’s quite sad, really.

I so wish you’d continue writing. Please give us more of your back garden philosophising!

I stumbled on your blog by happy accident tonight, through checking out the blogroll on http://www.gavinsblog.com/. I know this is a fairly old post (October last year?), but you’ve explained the whole phenomenon of road rage so clearly that I felt compelled to comment.

I see glimpses of road rage almost every day on our roads. On occasion, I experience some of it myself when I have yet another narrow miss after a fellow road user has forced his way into a non-existent gap without indicating his intention first so that I could make space for him, necessitating evasive action and sharp braking on my part. (In South Africa, the ubiquitous minibus taxis are infamous for such manoeuvres, and worse.)

Fortunately, I am one of the lucky few who work half-days/flexi-time, so I usually only sit in traffic once a day. But what would be a 10-15 minute trip without traffic turns into a 30-45 minute snarl-up that is rather stressful.

I’ve often wondered what I could do about my reaction to such tension-inducing situations, as I clearly cannot avoid them. Your article was quite insightful on the importance of using *all* (6?) one’s senses to respond more appropriately. So thank you.