Develop the heart. Work for peace in your heart and in the world. Never give up, no matter what is going on around you.

- His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet

Make friends with...

om mani padme hum

I am a gardener,

a stick in the mud that took root and grew.

I was born in England. Now I live in Canada... in a house.

I am left handed.

I don't own a red satchel,

Or a cloth cap.

Now you know everything. ²

But if you want to read more, pick up The Post.

What is going on in Tibet is a fundamentally human crisis that transcends the usual political heartache, heartburn and haemorrhoids, and confronts us with what it actually means to be a human being³, wherever we happen to live.

And these are a few of my favourite things...⁴

• Books Buddleia Butterflies Custard Ducks Eggs Freckles GreatBlueHerons Films Fish Mayonnaise Mice PeaceAndQuiet Portraiture Sausages Seaside Soil Sunrises Tea TeaBags Television TidePools Whelks... oh, and Marquees, of course
• Fast cars, fast women and fast laxatives
• And, of course, brown paper packages of kittens in mittens tied up with string.⁵
• Favourite Rejection Comments
• Favourite book: R A Lafferty's Fourth Mansions
• Favourite Bach: PDQ
• Favourite violinist: Hilary Hahn

And, for no particular reason, a poem about me...

John-the-gardener
Howdy, pardner,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells
And cockle shells
And pretty maids that I have a devil of a time trying to keep all in a row.

Did I mention that I was born without a sense of humour? Don't feel sorry for me though. I get by quite well with a prosthesis made of feathers. Patent pending.

Other Qualifications

• Past life experience: Bear

• Animal totem: Great blue heron

• Religion: Born-again Buddhist with lapsed animist tendencies

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¹ But that's just because I'm lazy.
² Except that I have a middle Atlantic accent (no gurgling), but choose to speak, when I speak at all, like a cross between Captain Pugwash and Prince Feisal, as played by Sir Alec Guinness.
³ That does hold some special meaning, doesn't it?... beyond the usual heartache, heartburn, and haemorrhoids.
⁴ ... with a nod of thanks to Julie Andrews.
⁵ Younger readers may need to consult older readers, who may be familiar with Julie Andrews and the musical film, 'The Sound of Music'.