19/11/2025
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there!
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away!
That poem always makes me smile. It takes me back 30 years. I was a craftsman gardener, in a relationship with a witch (seriously, but that's another story). I was at work. Bev was at home. Unfortunately it was the depths of winter and minus something silly. The cold ate into your soul. My team were on a Godforsaken hillside, cutting a hawthorn hedge. It was torture. I said to my colleagues, '2pm. Another 2 hours to go. I wish to God I was home. I hate this job.' So, we finished out task and I rode home on my motorcycle. As soon as I walked in, Bev said, 'Did you come home today?' I laughed and said 'No, but I wanted to.' Bev gave me one of her smiles and said, You did come home, you know. She explained. Apparently Bev was upstairs tidying our bedroom. She said she didn't hear my motorcycle (which was usual) but she heard the front door open, and heard me walk up the stairs. I put my head around the bedroom door, smiled at her then walked into the bathroom (adjacent to our bedroom door) Bev waited a little while, but I didn't come out. When she came to look, no one was there. I was gone. It was 2pm. If Bev said it happened, it happened.The Germans have a word for this. It's Doppelganger. It means An apparition or double of a living person. I believe I so wanted to be home that day at 2pm, part of me actually did go home, and was seen there. Strange but true. It's a funny old world...