Retirement minus 6 days - Blackbird feeding

"The past is a cupboard full of light and all you have to do is find the key that opens the door." from "Behind The Scenes At The Museum" by Kate Atkinson

I have been starting to prepare my valedictory lecture for Thursday today. You may think this is a little late but I tend to pull my lectures together at the last moment when I can get more engaged in it, whereas if I plan ahead I have always struggled to get focused. Trouble is this only works if I get there by the due date, but I tinker with itall the way through, until the last minute.

Focused on the past today drawing out some lessons for the lecture. But it also reminded me of one of the joys of reaching retirement and that is the chance to reflect on the accumulated wealth of knowledge, memories and experiences which I have been through and which continue to shape my days. My novel is inspired by the past and I shall be returning to that after this week.

I have spent the day in my study but only blackbirds Visting to feed there, so for the second day in a row, blackbirds are my blip,