Quickly

Posted by Tania Kindersley.

My darlings, I cannot apologise enough.  I just went and buggered off without a word of warning. There was a funeral; there was a drive of over five hundred miles; there was sadness and the consolation of old friends; there was no wireless. Until very recently when I said wireless I meant the radiophonic device, because I was a bit affected like that; now, of course, I mean the capacity to connect to the internet when I am in the middle of a field. 

I am halfway home now. I got up at five thirty and tried to do it in one go, but Fridays going north are a zoo, and I suddenly ran out of all physical and mental energy somewhere north of Lancaster. I can hardly write this my fingers are so crabbed and old and my mind so fogged with too much emotion. I was going to wait until tomorrow, when I got back to my desk and felt like a rational human again, but all the church bells are going off.  For some reason I felt very strongly that I must tell you that.  I am in a little market town in Lancashire, lying in bed, about to go to sleep for my early start tomorrow, and every single church bell is chiming its head off. I have no idea why.  Maybe Friday 12th February is a high day in Kirkby Lonsdale.  Maybe they do this to celebrate the beginning of every weekend.  Maybe they are all crazy fashionistas, marking the passing of Alexander McQueen.

Whatever it is, it is making me smile.