Watching a pelican serenely glide past the bedroom window is one of those uplifting moments before getting down to the morning routines of cleaning out the fireplace, feeding the wild ducks by the pond, boiling the kettle, and cooking the porridge.
And then it's time for breakfast. The playwright Christopher Fry, best known for "The Lady's Not for Burning", once said that after the age of eighty one seems to be having breakfast every five minutes.
I'm not quite there yet but the ageing process is neither gradual nor gentle, with the years flickering past like the briefest of afternoons. All the more reason to savour every moment, to sit back and await events. In time they are bound to come to me - like this pelican moment.
That's how life is at "Riverbend": beautiful one day, perfect the next!
