A HAPPY LONER'S DIARY

I WOKE UP WELL BEFORE SUNRISE and peeked out of the window. It was as if a cloud had descended – the thick white fog had filled every gap among the trees. These were the last days of summer and the earth was cooling off. My whole body was instantly alert and ready. Yes, I’m going to that clearing in the wood where a moose family lives. I saw them a few times, and often discovered their beds. This was just across my pasture, beyond a small wood and across a neighbour‘s field.

THAT AFTERNOON I headed in a new direction. I had always wanted to explore that part of our parish. A friend took me there some ten years ago and I was so struck by the undulating scenery – green fields with tightly packed gentle hills - that I kept reminding myself again and again that I must see the place. The dusty road, familiar from the ten year old trip, took me up and down the slopes, past the empty pastures where the cattle had grazed the previous month, and past a li

EVEN HAPPY LONERS have sad thoughts sometimes. During those spells of sadness you have to persevere on your journey to happiness, in search of the meaning of life. Such is the wisdom of those who’ve been on that journey. They know. And I believe them. Since the end of April I’ve been studying for a diploma in counselling skills. Psychology is an entirely new field to me (not to count the life experience gained during the five decades). But I’m used to wading into new waters e