A slightly bizarre but delightful thing happened to me yesterday.

An elderly lady I have known all my life stopped me in the street, saying she had something to ask me. She was frowning so hard that I did a quick inventory of what I might have done to displease her – not that I am in the habit of annoying old ladies, but you never know – and drew a complete blank… But no – it was nothing I had done.

In fact, “There is a word I need,” the elderly lady said. “A word you use for a place that is falling to pieces…” Continue reading →