I’m 72 today. Blimey! (my favourite retro Brit cozy swearword). Where did all those years go? Water under the bridge eh? The last time I was motivated to write a birthday post was when I turned seventy. So perhaps it’s time for an update.
As I look back and reflect on the ebb and flow of Life, the Universe, and Everything, I’m reminded of the line by Jerry Garcia, the iconic guitarist and founder of the seminal sixties band, the Grateful Dead: “What a long strange trip it’s been.” Or as Shakespeare puts it, in the famous “All the world’s a stage” speech from As You Like It: life is a “strange eventful history.”
The Japanese artist, Hokusai (famous for his Great Wave image, which he painted in his 70s) had an inspiring way of looking at ageing. He said he was a beginner in his 60s, just about getting the hang of drawing in his 80s, and he was looking forward to doing his best work in his 100s. So, as I stumble through the seventh act of my personal tragicomedy, the biblical “threescore years and ten”, perhaps my journey has just begun? According to Shakespeare, it’s the final act, so I’d better make the most of it.
Last year was difficult, to say the least. Nikki and I had ongoing health issues and spent time in hospital. We’ve had neighbour issues, building work all around us (with a hell of a lot more to come), and living 1 km from a busy runway, right under the flightpath, really started to get to us. Our much loved house of ten years in el Medano, Tenerife, became increasingly toxic. Nikki had to stop making art and I pretty much stopped writing. We were in pure survival mode.
So we took the reluctant decision to put the house on the market and try to find somewhere less stressful. Of course, that process was itself very stressful (finding a buyer and a house we liked, and the whole complex business of moving house). And then, just when we finally managed to complete the sale and purchase, Nikki fell down the stairs in the new house, broke her foot, and was stuck on the sofa for the next six weeks.
But we did it! In March 2025, we moved to el Poris de Abona, a lovely little fishing village just along the coast from el Medano, and we turned our lives around. Nikki is making art again, in her awesome new studio and I’m getting back into writing. From now on our mantra is: “Poris Positivity!”
I guess most of us have a ‘bucket list’ of things we’d love to do / wish we could have done / hope we have time left to do—travel to exotic destinations for instance—but ultimately, what is really important?
We don’t travel much anymore, for various reasons: some negative (health issues, and tbh we can do without the stress of travelling), some neutral (we’ve already been round the world a few times with our windsurfing travels), and some positive (living here, in las Islas Afortunadas, every day is a holiday). And anyway, we prefer to spend our time writing, making art, and simply living.
Ultimately, my bucket list is simple: to enjoy life as it happens, day by day, minute by minute—as Fred, our dog does. His bucket list is straightforward: food, walks, cuddles … I think we can probably learn a lot from our furry Best Friends.
And when it comes to my writing and Nikki’s art, we have what she describes as a Buddhist approach. Yes, it would be cool to be published, win prizes, reach lots of readers, have loads of followers etc. but ultimately, we just love doing it. And speaking of love … I’m filled with love and gratitude for Nikki, my soulmate and partner of 42 years, and Fred, the terrorist terrier, our little nuclear family, and our friends here and around the planet.
Richard Attree 