My Annual Letter

A corrected and slightly amplified version of my anual letter for 2021 is now on my website, here

Mild mid-Winter

It was so mild today that, in the middle of my shopping, expedition I felt so warm I removed my scarf.

Farewell Turkey Crown

Yesterday I threw away the remains of the Christmas turkey crown. For many years we've had a duck for Christmas dinner. This year we decided on Turkey and thought just part of one would suffice. When the butcher offered me a choice between a 1 kg crown, and a 2 kg crown I recklessly chose the latter. Even though I put three portions in the freezer, and we had two dinners from it and I made a turkey sandwish yesterday, there was still quite a lot of stale turkey left over. Although I hate wasting food, I sadly threw the remains away.

Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Thought

People often consider Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Thought to be equivalent, but they often conflict. One person speaking inserts their thoughts into the minds of those listening, who may be thus prevented from following their own trains of thought. At one time libraries were places where conversation was discouraged so that thoughtful readers should not be disturbed, but compulive prattlers long ago overode those rules to assert their supposed 'right' to stop other people thinking.