What's in a name ? Schizophrenia.

Photo of Osaka at night. The mystery package  An unexpected parcel arrived at my house  yesterday.  Very exciting as it was marked Japan post and was festooned with labels for the  customs and postal services. I spotted that the sender's name was Aiko and the city of origin was Osaka . Aiko was a student of mine when she lived in Wales and I taught her English. This was some 5 years ago. I used to travel to her home on the eastern edge of Cardiff most weeks and give her an English lesson. We have kept in touch since she returned to Osaka and last year she met my second Japanese student , Mari in Tokyo. The two had not met before. A few of the towels  The parcel contained five. small face cloth size towels. Each is about 8 inches square.  They are beautifully hand made with  illustrations of animals in lovely pastel colours - pink , lemon, green, dark green and orange, lilac , photo above, and cream. The maker's  name is embroidered on each one....

Two and a half months into lockdown what are the words and the phrases that surround us on television, the radio, social media and a multiplicity of websites?  I first wrote about this in mid April 2020. So here is an update. Here is my selection :- Covid 19,  the novel coronavirus, is the evil heart of our troubles. As a result we have :- Shops, restaurants, bars and cinemas , all closed. Temporarily ? Sanitiser,  gel and  plain old soap as  the weapons against disease. The R number, the rate at which infection spreads. It has to be below one we are told. Cases  of coronavirus registered,  numbers hospitalised  , deaths recorded, facts ,  figures and statistics updated. The  daily government briefing. Analysis by scientists .nd questions. Questions from press and public. Slogans , sound bites  and catch phrases. Stay alert, protect the NHS , save lives. Shielding the vulnerable and those most at risk. Testing...

LANGUAGE OF A PANDEMIC ------------------------------------------------ Sign outside a school in Belfast Wuhan wet market, China, deadly source of a new  virus, unknown, misunderstood, a form of pneumonia. The Chinese deny it now. Don't believe their doublespeak. Lungs under attack, breathing struggles. The virus Spreads. It  floats and splatters in coughs and sneezes.  Germs germinate. You may  walk , run, ride or  fly , There's  no escape if it has you in its sights  Droplets and globules unceasingly  multiply. Test,  trial, temperature, fever, burning, take over.  Immune systems, body functions, slow down, shut down. Decline , descend , die. Or recover miraculously. The ones who fight it come to our rescue. Doctors, nurses, health care assistants. Paramedics, porters, ancillaries,  angels all. NHS, hospitals, old and new , build and adapt , wards. Ventilators vital for breathing , machines and medicine. O...

Rainbow in Yellowstone National Park Maybe you have noticed paintings and drawings of rainbows appearing in windows in your neighbourhood ? Here in our seaside town in Wales we have certainly seen them. I think the children were encouraged to make them just before the pandemic resulted in the premature closure of the schools in Wales. This rainbow is arched over an idyllic landscape in Wyoming but all rainbows bring cheer and pleasure to the beholder.  The rainbow has been the most recognisable sign of hope and renewal since the Bible announced it as God's promise that the world would not be flooded again. However in these times of severe and damaging flooding in many areas followed by the current lethal virus pandemic the rainbow is more a sign of resilience and some community togetherness. The Queen referred to  the appearance of the rainbows  in her recent broadcast to the nation which was a message to encourage everyone in their efforts to fight the vir...