Regret

When I used the word ‘regret’ Fran a counsellor by trade said ‘it’s a word we should not use.’ I was surprised. Investigation revealed a misunderstanding. She was using the word in the context of past decisions, regrets at roads not taken, relationships not pursued, careers not chosen etc. I was using it in terms of things I couldn’t do now. Make love. Garden. Travel. Cook. Drive the Car. Go to Shows. Wash the Dishes. Put the Rubbish Out.

It is not to say that I do not try to appreciate what I still have. Yesterday was a good day. I am reading with great pleasure Ishiguro’s Noctures. (Music and dusk, regret merging into melancholy with a dash of unexpected comedy in unlikely places). Two very colourful rosellas spent considerable time in the top of the large hebe outside my study window next door, eating seeds so delicately. Taranaki writer and friend David Hill – always good company - came for dinner.