Chalking up another year

As another birthday was chalked up at the weekend I took time out to sit at my favourite spot, on a grassy hillside overlooking the calm north shore of Bermuda.

Sitting there reminded me of my birthday 24 years ago, when I was a carefree, wandering young man with a backpack hitch-hiking around West Australia. On that birthday morning I ended up sitting atop Wave Rock, an impressive natural granite feature on the edge of the remote outback near the town of Hyden.

There was no-one much around, so I could actually sit with my feet dangling over the edge, and enjoy my breakfast. I recall clearly the morning and that breakfast as I had a mini pack of Weetabix and a carton of milk - but no bowl. I had to pop some Weetabix in my mouth then drink a little milk and eat it that way, one of the many innovative adaptions that came along with life on the road.

As I sat on Wave Rock I listened to the spellbinding near silence of the Australian outback, and felt at peace and happy that I was there living life in an adventurous way and experiencing something that many may not get the chance too. I also knew, even at that moment, that I would forever recall the experience as I celebrated my 22nd birthday at an unusual spot with an unusual style of breakfast.

It doesn't seem that long ago. The memory is fresh and vivid still, yet it is just one year shy of a quarter of a century ago. Where does the time go?

Projecting an equal distance of time into the future, I see I will be 70. Now, that makes me appreciate how life's 'chunks' soon pass by - and why it is important to make the most of the time you have and not miss out on experiences and opportunities that may never come again.

New Lennon book

The 'Lennon Bermuda' book I wrote earlier this year went on sale this week.

It was a labour of love to write about John Lennon and his two-month stay in Bermuda during the summer of 1980.

Although, as the author, it probably isn't my place to say so, I do feel the 120-page book is the definitive account of Lennon's sailing trip to the island and his subsequent encounters with people in Bermuda where he enjoyed relative anonymity during his stay.

Writing the book was an experience too, as I was brought into the project at a late stage, which meant speed interviewing and writing everything in a 20-day window. That was a formidable challenge because I was also doing my regular full-time job (there was no time to schedule any vacation days).

However, I didn't mind the pressure. Writing about one of my musical favourites, and getting to speak to so many of the cast of characters that encountered the singer-songwriter during those sunny months of 1980, was quite uplifting. By the time I'd finished I had spoken with twelve people who had direct contact with Lennon during his Bermuda sojourn. It felt as though I'd lived through the whole event, albeit concertinaed into such a tight time-frame.

The proofs of the book I've seen, but not yet the finished product. That I look forward to next Friday at the John Lennon tribute concert in the Botanical Gardens when it is officially launched.

Readers can purchase it online, where postage for US customers is only $5. That's reasonable, unlike the rest of the world postage which weighs in at $45 (more than the book itself). Hopefully that changes when the book is made available through more mainstream channels. For now, if you're in the US and you're interested in John Lennon - or my writing - I'd recommend checking it out. It contains stories and pictures that have not been heard or seen before.

Buy the book online HERE

Murray wins US Open Tennis

Andy Murray has won the US Open Tennis Championships. It was a memorable, near five-hour match.

I had not intended to spend my whole evening lying on the sofa watching the action. However, once I switched on the live link I was soon caught up in the drama of the finely balanced duel between Murray and defending champ Novak Djokovic.

It was on this very same day, September 10, in 1933 that Fred Perry, the last British man to win the US championships, won the first of his three titles - so there was a touching piece of synchronicity. Murray also becomes the first Brit since 1936 to win a Grand Slam title anywhere in the world.

Like the Olympics earlier this summer, I don't feel guilty about having been distracted away from my writing - at least for a evening of sporting magic, which I witnessed tonight. There seems to be a poetry of the human spirit on show in these titanic sporting duels. Murray the underdog finally showed he could come good. I hope he has many more successes, though it is hard to imagine a more enthralling victory than the one that ended at Flushing Meadows, New York, less than two hours ago.

I have to catch up on my writing, yes. But for now I'm uplifted by a great sporting moment.

Good Guy Eddie

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" - wrote John Lennon in the song 'Beautiful Boy'. Much truth exists in that little bit of philosophy.

That was brought home to me again this week as I reflected on my workplace friendship with Eddie, our office cleaner.

Over the past seven years he has been a constant presence in my work orbit. Each time we met we'd exchange greetings and small talk as we went about our routines. And on countless Saturday mornings we sat in front of the office TV to watch whatever English Premier league football game was being shown - chatting and commenting on the match as we unwound at the end of the working week.

Those mornings were nothing spectacular, they just seemed one of life's little routines. But now Eddie has finished up at work and that caused me to reflect on our friendship and our Saturdays watching the football. The games were secondary, we'd watch whatever match was being shown. We shared the moment, and the friendship, through weeks and months of autumn, winter and spring.

Sometimes we'd talk about the Azores, where his elderly mother still lives and where I visited last year. I could try out words of Portuguese with Eddie, a fluent speaker.

At times you take things for granted and only see the true value and preciousness of something when it is no longer there. That's how I feel about the long-standing acquaintance I've been fortunate to have had with Eddie.

Those countless Saturday mornings sipping gas station coffee in front of the office TV, watching a game with Eddie, never seemed particularly special at the time. They certainly do now.

Good luck, Good Guy Eddie, in the long years ahead. Thank you for your friendship.

A spotted eagle ray

There's a tropical storm on the horizon, which in all likelihood will be a hurricane by the time it visits Bermuda this coming weekend. The storm is called 'Leslie', and while that name did not strike terror in anyone when it was assigned to this weather system, the storm is too big to ignore. The winds reach out some 200 miles from its centre and it might be a Category 2 hurricane by the time it reaches Bermuda.

Hurricanes are rated 1 to 5, with Cat 1 being the weakest and Cat 5 the most powerful. A Cat 2 will be the highest rated to have reached Bermuda since I came to live on the island.

While that remains in the background for the time being, the weather here is benign and calm. Perfect conditions, in fact, for viewing the many types of fish that abound in the semi-tropical ocean around the shore.

Two days ago, while I sat admiring the view from my favourite spot in the shade cast by a small olivewood tree on a grassy hillside by the ocean, I spied a spotted eagle ray jump out of the water. It rose maybe two feet then flopped back into the sea. It was probably hunting small fry fish - an abundant food source at this time of year. It is only the second time I've seen a ray leap from the ocean, so it was a privilege and a tad lucky on my part to have been there at the right moment early on a Saturday morning.

This weekend I sat down twice to compose three pages of the final chapter of Dolphin Girl. I'm pleased with how it is shaping up. At this stage it is all about getting ideas, story and dialogue down onto the paper. I can improve on it once it is in rough form. Doing it this way also avoids self-censorship, where I might be put off and beat myself up thinking what I've written isn't good enough. It's far easier to improve something that exists than it is to improve a blank piece of paper.

Should Tropical Storm Leslie, or should I say Hurricane Leslie, visit these shores, there will no doubt be more golden time to write away.