Farewell, Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, died at the weekend aged 82. He was the Columbus of our time.

During the weekend I also finished reading the biography of George Mackay Brown. Inspired by the creativity of expression he achieved through his writing - even in letters to friends - I applied some of that to this epitaph to Neil Armstrong:

The night galleon sails through the darkness and gazes upon Earth's gardens, sighing, no longer able to see the gentle ambassador who was the first to visit.

There is magic in the way Mackay Brown weaved and juxtaposed words and images to create vivid, memorable imagery and moods.

From the biography I take many things, not just the fascinating tale of the poet-writer's life in the remote Orkney islands but also his methods and the way he set his working schedule whereby he would write for a given time each day (three or four hours after breakfast in the morning). His words were shaped and immersed in the surroundings he loved, treasured and rarely left. Also, when he was not writing, he would read regularly.

I shall apply these lessons to my own writing as I polish up, and complete, Dolphin Girl.

Today is also a special day, being the 32nd anniversary of my first recorded training run in 1980. Beneath the blazing August sun I ran along the trailway by the aquamarine and turquoise waters of the north shore, flushing countless buckeye butterflies from the grassy path near Bailey's Bay as I sweated out six miles in the 30C (85F) heat.

Running is both exercise and thinking time when I often explore story ideas, dreaming up plots and dialogue. My mind now is on Dolphin Girl.