Awareness zone

Awareness zone

Childhood holidays were a five-hour hot slog up the motorway – with a stop for tuna sandwiches on the way – to camp in a field in Yorkshire or Cumbria or Dorset. They were the best vacations a child could ask for. But without fail on arrival, I would have a tantrum: An unquenchable meltdown…

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Drowning out

drowning out

When I was a child, I would lie in the bathtub so my feet could turn on the taps. Then I would block one of the spouts with my big toe. Sometimes, I would dip my head under the water and hear the phlock as my ears filled and my senses deadened. I squeaked my…

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Moose body

Signal and noise

I thought I was going to die as I drove into the moose; that moment as control is compressed into brakes and steering-wheel knuckles when there’s nothing to do except stamp down and wait. When we stopped, I got out of the car. I was cheerfully alive and I didn’t look back at the moose…

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