O would some power the giftie gie us …

… to see ourselves as other see us.

Those words by Robert Burns came to my mind this morning, while looking through my small library of works by another of my favourite writers, and I couldn't help thinking of the similarity between the philosophy of the great Scottish bard and the observations of the English master wordsmith, one reflecting inwardly and the other creating a world of the ridiculous seen as normal by all but one young female adventuress.

That started me off on a journey of reflection based not on "Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax" as the Walrus said to the Carpenter, but on the pleasure of books I have read and owned. Most of them - those which lined the walls of one room in my home grandly referred to as my study - had sadly to be sacrificed in the process of down-sizing, but a few remain with me as valued possessions and friends.

I can't remember who said it first (perhaps it was I) but I have been known to use the phrase "I never lend books to my friends because I don't want to lose my friends", only to discover with embarrassment years later, one that was lent to me by a former friend, and never returned.

OK - that's enough reflecting for today, now that the mirror's crack'd!