Introspection

I love the 1980s TV adaptation of 'Brideshead Revisited'. I was at school in North Yorkshire when the filming was done at Castle Howard, and there was a real buzz among the local population. The opening words, straight from Evelyn Waugh and delivered in Jeremy Irons' distinctively rich tones, are: 'Here, at the age of thirty-nine, I began to be old.'

Yesterday, I hit thirty-nine.

Here is part of my current entry on the Friends Reunited web site: 'Not married, no kids, no mortgage, no car, no pets.' This seems a suitable moment for stocktaking.

I have no pets because I'm too lazy; because I think keeping a dog in a city flat would be cruel; and because cats make me sneeze.

I have no car because Helsinki public transport is good; because I don't want to add to the congestion and pollution that we already have in abundance; because I don't want to help turn the wheels of an oil-driven economy that is wrecking all our futures; and because I don't like driving.

I have no mortgage because I have restless feet that don't like to be tied down; and because I don't like being in debt.

I have no kids because I'm too much of a kid myself.

I am not married because ... because ... well ... actually ... I don't know.