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We stood talking in the water. Waist deep. 6.30am. Saturday. I’d just managed 100 metres in the shallows without drowning. He was about to do an easy 1500. Probably more. I was heading into shore. He was heading into the deep. We stood talking in the water. Common humanity. He farewelled me with ‘See you […]
January 26, 2015
Cricket and snorkelling leave you with plenty of time to ponder the big questions. Can I actually bowl? Can I bat? Am I breathing?
January 5, 2015
This story was first published in The Big Issue (#474, 26 Dec 2014 to 8 Jan 2015) He tells me about the pigeons. Racing pigeons. He tells me about the nuns. Swimming nuns. He tells me about skin cancer, and marathons. He tells me about his pacemaker, and watching his daughter’s overseas wedding on Skype. […]
December 23, 2014
The Big Issue has just published Taking flight. It’s a story about racing pigeons and swimming nuns. About technology and memory. About marathons and the sun. It’s a story about the sea and the desert. It’s a story about talking to a bloke at the beach. The Big Issue is available from street vendors: […]
February 21, 2014
This story was first published (as ‘A Life Aquatic’) in The Big Issue (#451, 7-20 Feb 2014) Wake, ride, swim. Wake, ride, swim. Wake, ride, swim. It seemed feasible. Maybe even worthwhile. Go for a short swim, just a dip really, 365 days in a row. At the small suburban beach a five minute bike […]
February 7, 2014
The Big Issue has just published A Life Aquatic, a light yarn about a notion: to swim every day for a year. Outdoors. Here’s an extract: But trouble lay ahead. Trouble called mountains. Trouble called a river that was too shallow and too dirty. Trouble called a waterfall that was too deep and too rocky. […]
November 13, 2017
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