Posted on

September 2 2017: New Year Resolutions

Well that’s it.  Summer’s over. No more lazy days making the most of the sun.  School starts next week.  Time to swap flip flops for boots, order logs and get back to the real world.

There are spiders’ webs on car mirrors  in the morning and a hint of chill in the air, refreshing, energising.

Holidays are over.  Back to work again.

It’s a time to dream of new exercise books with all those clean untouched pages, new pens and pencils to make our mark.  Even for those of us who left school a long time ago, the September air has a tantalising tang of new beginnings.  This year will be different. All sorts of possibilities…

January has always seemed a daft time for a year to start.  In the bleak midwinter we just want to hibernate and get through the dark until the spring comes round.

But September is  much more crisp  and purposeful.  A good time  for a fresh start.

This time we won’t mess up our execrise books.  This time we’ll try harder.  This time we’ll get it right.

All this and new boots too.

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

Posted on

August 24 2017: Kabul grannies

 

These girls striding out  confidently in the 1970s  could be anywhere in the western world.  In fact, they were in Afghanistan in the days  when the country was relatively liberal.  Until the Taliban took over – then  these  happy young women  and their daughters and granddaughters were forced to wear burkas, covered up from head to toe in a bid to make them invisible, second class citizens with precious few rights.

So what did these women tell their daughters and their daughters’ daughters of how life used to be?

We in the west are used to our grannies telling us of how life used to be harder, of how  they used to work harder, dress more modestly and generally behaved better.  They remind us of how lucky we are, of all the opportunities  we have for education, freedom and ambition.

But  Kabul grannies must tell their granddaughters a different story.  When the Taliban were at their most oppressive memories of mini skirts and music and university must have been like fairy tales from some long-forgotten age.

That’s one of the ideas I explore in  Amity and the Angel .  In a society where religion rules and girls are just meant to be subservient to men, marry young and have lots of babies, it’s the granny with the long memory who’s the rebel, reminding people that there’s another way to live, a society with music and stories, where men and women are equal and free.

Well, someone has to keep the ideas alive.  And you can always rely on Granny…

 

 

 

Posted on

June 11 2017: The story of Amity

Blame it on my great grandfather. He was part of a religious revival that swept through North Wales over a century ago. While other miners in the booming coal town were busy drinking, gambling and looking for loose women, Robert Williams was singing hymns and preaching hell fire.

He wouldn’t have thought much of sparkly shoes…

Great grandad’s influence still lingered among my ancient aunts who were quick to condemn anything that might be fun. Playing cards were the Devil’s picture book – even when it was just snap with Mr Bun the Baker. Sundays were chapel, chapel and yet more chapel.

I thought these strict Welsh attitudes had died out until I visited the Western Isles. Sundays there were just for church. No playing, gardening, car washing or odd jobs. Even the playgrounds were empty, with signs saying “Respect the Sabbath”. It was the time of the Scottish Referendum. What would it be like, I wondered, if these people were in charge.

If people like my great grandfather ruled the world it wouldn’t be much fun at all. How would a spirited girl survive?

And that was the start of Amity…