Welcome to justthoughtsnstuff

I started posting to jtns on 20 February 2010 with just one word, 'Mosaic'. This seemed an appropriate introduction to a blog that would juxtapose fragments of memoir and life-writing. Since 1996, I'd been coming to terms with the consequences of emotional and economic abuse that had begun in childhood, and which, amongst other things, had sought to stifle self-expression. While I'd explored some aspects of my life through fiction and, to a lesser extent, journalism, it was only in 2010 that I felt confident enough to write openly about myself. I believed this was an important part of the healing process. Yet within weeks, the final scenes of my family's fifty-year nightmare started to play themselves out and the purpose of the blog became one of survival through writing. Although some posts are about my family's suffering - most explicitly, Life-Writing Talk, with Reference to Trust: A family story - the majority are about happier subjects (including, Bampton in rural west Oxfordshire, where I live, Oxford, where I work, the seasons and the countryside, walking and cycling) and I hope that these, together with their accompanying photos, are enjoyable and positive. Note: In February 2020, on jtns' tenth birthday, I stopped posting to this blog. It is now a contained work of life-writing about ten years of my life. Frank, 21 February 2020.

New blog: morethoughtsnstuff.com.

Saturday 13 July 2013

trap grounds, lord of the flies, marking done, free-ish week, summer school, exeter college




















Strayed off the Oxford canal towpath this morning and explored part of the Trap Grounds site, about half a mile north of the city centre.

I've passed the site countless times over the years and used to walk part of it from the Port Meadow side when we lived on Osney Island.

I had no idea that the canal part was such a wonderful place, though! It's made up of reed beds and woodland, with raised walkways, a hide and play areas that look like something out of Lord of the Flies.

Why was I in Oxford on a Saturday? Work, of course--but come 4 pm, I've a few days off. Can't wait. Meanwhile, the marking is done (for now) and there's a relatively free week ahead before the summer school at Exeter College starts. Yay!
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