Author: Stephen James

Robert MacFarlane writes in the Guardian about Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising. He is part of a team bringing a dramatisation of the book to the BBC World Service this Christmas.

He mentions the Twitter reading group that he ran 5 years ago with Julia Bird, which I remember. It was fun to discover so many others for whom the book holds a special place in their imagination.

I read it in my early teens. I recall getting it out of our local library. The rural wintery setting totally resonated with me and the folklore tapped into my own fascination with the idea of the supernatural and nature.

Growing up in the south of the UK we had snow nearly every winter, usually just for a few days. This made it an Event and is forever synonymous for me with The Dark is Rising.

As an aside, from the ’90s onward the incidence of snow has really dropped off. Anecdotal signs of climate change.

I look forward to listening to the new audio drama.

As a family we all in our various ways get affected by the shorter days, particularly when it’s also cold and foggy and dank. Like this last week has been. It’s a drain on energy, motivation and mood.

So the prospect of friends coming today, an arrangement made some weeks ago, brought with it a degree of trepidation at the effort required to get the house in some order, cook and so on.

We needn’t have worried, of course. In fact, it was just what was needed.

Sometimes it’s difficult to relax and change down a gear, so a having commitment to do something enjoyable, like seeing friends, forces you to step off the treadmill.

Having plenty of cake helped as well.

Finally decided to move the blog hosting to a different platform. I have continued to have issues with my Hugo setup for some time now and it gets in the way of writing.

As much as I enjoyed making my own workflow the whole thing needs a rebuild. And that will take me some little time.

So for now, I’ve switched to WordPress having got a good deal on a hosting plan. Officially, I don’t like WordPress but if it gets me back writing more frequently and with fewer issues actually getting a post to appear on the blog, that makes it a good thing!

This means my RSS feed address has changed to https://strandlines.blog/feed/

I can’t recall when it was, but I’d had the idea of writing posts that were a series of short posts on whatever it was that was on my mind. I often have thoughts that would make a longer post but either a lack of time or being put off by the mental effort results in me not postin at all.

The idea of posting in small chunks was twofold; I’d find it easier to post something at all, and it could actually help my thought processes as well.

Can I try again to implement this idea?

I’m currently reading Anxiety for beginners by Eleanor Morgan. Only about halfway through, but I like what I’ve read so far.

Back when I first started to address my mental illness issues I was very keen to see what was going on in my head through the lens of a specific diagnosis. I have this disorder or that disorder. Or maybe both at once. And there is nothing wrong with that. To be able to put a name to my experience was a huge relief.

What I’ve come to acknowledge since is that the human condition isn’t something that can always be fitted into categories, all neat and tidy. Obvious, really.

Mental illness and for that matter mental health is more fluid and messy than that. Our state of mind shifts through different phases. Anxiety comes and goes. It ebbs and flows. Morphs.

This is not to diminish formal diagnoses. I think they can be and are very helpful. But to expect a person’s mental illness to fit neatly and exclusively into this or that diagnosis is to diminish the person.

We are much more complicated and untidy than that. This is where Eleanor Morgan’s book strikes a chord. I found it validating to read her description of her own story. It emphasises how everyone’s experience is different. It’s helping me recognise that my own experience is a jumble of different parts. Yes, I can say that those parts fit the criteria of specific disorders but they also spill over into others. I feel less bothered by putting very specific names to my issues. Sometimes just calling it anxiety is enough.

I’d forgotten that when you have a puppy, there is a type of person you run into who is compelled to give out unsolicited advice and opinion, much like when you have a baby.

What has surprised me is the number of those people who, upon seeing you have a Cocker Spaniel, intone in a sombre and knowing manner, that we do know don’t we, that our puppy is going to be full of energy for much of her life, and thus will need a lot of exercise and input.

To those good people I say, for the record, yes, we do know this. Getting a Cocker was a deliberate choice. We do a lot of active stuff. We enjoy training a bright dog and having her involved in our daily activities. Just like our old dog.

Watching a spaniel of a morning, all ears and legs, joyously tear around a field is medicine for the soul.

My two thoughts on yet another Tory prime minister.

Given Truss has been tossing political red meat to the party members during the leadership campaign, and her capacity to ‘adapt’ in the interests of ambition, how quickly will she change tack in order to survive, once in office?

While Truss argues for small-state, low tax policies, and economic growth rather than helping those who are struggling (are the two mutually exclusive?), oil and utility companies look like they are profiteering, with dividends for shareholders and big payouts for bosses coming before investment in infrastructure and such.

Doesn’t look much like trickle down economics to me.

Being cooped up at home because of the hot weather feels weird. It’s a thing I associate with winter. To be stuck at home, indoors, albeit voluntarily, at this time of year is odd.

We’re all getting a bit grouchy, including the pup. We did go out yesterday morning for a short walk and a coffee, while it was relatively cool, which helped.

One more day of these temperatures, according to the forecast, and then dropping to the lower twenties. And the possibility of thunderstorms.

I’d love a good thunderstorm.

It really is quite melty today. 7:30 in the evening and still about 30 degrees. I think it will be a hot night. If sleep doesn’t come easily I will watch the supermoon.