I wake up cold and read in bed for an hour. My partner brings me coffee which I sip while continuing to read. Eventually I get up, make breakfast and attend to my social media, wishing a friend happy birthday and another a return to domestic normality. I read, yep I read, nothing but read all morning. I am only interrupted by the post man bringing me my next oncology review appointment date of March 7th. He who made a pact with the devil is clearly giving the scan department time to do me and get the result to him. Lunch time arrives later than usual, or at least I feel a midday urge to eat later than usual, which happens when I am reading. By 1:30 I have finished my book and I am stunned, it was a superb book and one that I know will linger.

To my delight I find that there is an American Gods novella included in the book, the Monarch of the Glen that has the main character from American Gods in it. I am delighted and just sit and read it in the afternoon along with an interview with the author and some after thoughts. The daylight hours are gone and the evening is on its way. My partner will visit a friend in the village to deliver a birthday present after we have feasted on fish and chips. After that I shall take in the Tesco delivery and feel at a loss. The sort of post good book loss, where thoughts swirl around in my head and already there is a craving for more to read. Its a craving for more brain food that good brain food induces. Its a kind of addiction but one that I feel reduces my ignorance and therefore reduces the worlds store of ignorance, which I think is a good thing. It also goes some way to assuage the strange guilt that comes from not doing anything, at least nothing that would be seen as “useful”. But then I am retired, fighting cancer and need to give myself a break sometimes.

Tonight I shall go to bed with a new book from my shelves to keep me company, I shall take my meds and plan a tomorrow that lets me write and train before a Queen night out.