Life and death

Bright green leaves, full of life. Brown leaves which were once green, now dead. It dawned on me recently that I've lived more years than I can expect to live and it kind of gave me a bit of a start. Where does the time go?

I've had loads of adventures and hope to have many more, I tend to say 'yes' more often than I say 'no' but I am aware that it's now taking me a little longer to recover from days (and some nights) on the rampage so I need to take that into consideration, I guess.

I'm so lucky to have had this time to have adventures, make mistakes, learn from others, pass on my own pearls of wisdom (sometimes casting them before swine) and I was saddened to hear recently of the sudden death of the god-daughter of one of my friends, aged just 18.

My friend is about my age and, like me, a bit of a shit-kicker. Here are Saskia's 'rules of life' that she gave to her god-daughter and whose life is being celebrated today in a memorial service in Wells Cathedral:

These are my rules of life so far.... I shared them all with Eleanor, I'd say she did them all fantastically well in her short span:

1) Don't let the bastards get you down

2) Hope for the best, expect nothing (that way you can't be disappointed)

3) Always remember how to have a good time (you can't always have a good time, but if you can remember how, you're alright)

4) Keep the faith and spread it gently, the faith is LOVE

5) Bearing all the other rules in mind, Don't ask doesn't get, ask politely at every opportunity.

and now another

6) Be kind