Daily Photo: Humphry the snail

As I get older, I can’t decide whether my reactions are slowing down or whether I’m simply becoming more inquisitive about my surroundings. I mention this because due to my curious nature, I recently managed to receive a swift blow to the head, something I would have avoided several years ago.

It all happened in a matter of nanoseconds one Wednesday lunchtime. My brain suddenly registered that an object was hurtling towards my head, leaving me with two rather different options. The first option (and possibly the better of the two) was to duck – then work out what the hell was flying towards me. The second option (and naturally the one I chose) was to identify the object before taking evasive action. This course of action allowed me the added bonus of being able to place a hand on my head and declare, with a mixture of conviction, alarm and genuine surprise, “That really hurt!”

The following days were spent feeling seasick and drunk, without the pleasure of a boat trip or having drunk a few bubbly pints of amber goodness. Instead, among other things,  I was given strict instructions to stay off screens and not drive (I’m currently writing this using a rather neat voice-to-text feature I’ve discovered, so I’m managing to bend the rules without technically breaking them).

And so I found myself confined to ambling around the garden, looking for creative inspiration in my own little Garden of Eden, passing the time rambling around the dell of my own back yard.

It was here that I met a snail I’ve decided to call Humphry. He was happily making his way along, apparently without a care in the world. If there’s one thing I can tell you about Humphry, it’s that while he might not move at lightning speed, he certainly is a determined wee thing.