Dying

When I knocked these off the tree by mistake a fortnight ago they were tight little green bullets. I put the stem in water and they have become mature and wrinkled without ever passing through the edible stage. 

Meanwhile the harvest has begun. I am used to sharing it with birds but today I watched a squirrel climb into the tree, dextrously twist a small apple off a branch then sit among the leaves tidily eating its way through about a third of it before losing interest, dropping it onto the ground and scampering away. The first time I have ever seen a squirrel in our garden.

I was there to see it because I was in the hammock reading Do No Harm by Henry Marsh (about two years later than everyone else). I admire his painful honesty but was unsettled to see a doctor lose his temper, show self doubt and admit to failure. I know that infallibility and wisdom are myths but they are comforting. And I know trainee doctors have to learn but I wouldn't much fancy it being when my life were in the balance.