Who knows what sign from above Milton was standing and waiting for* when he wrote those immortal words.

But let’s be real: At my age, I spend a lot more time sitting and waiting. And while I try to take a stoic outlook towards such things — definitely a benefit to my mental health and general happiness — I will admit that depending on the importance of the thing one is waiting for, stoicism can be difficult.**

I have the great fortune to live in a comfortable house with an Internet connexion and a partner I love, thus making the prospect of passing time not an unpleasant one. The result is that awaiting good things is a fardel*** easily borne. But awaiting a cessation of awfulness remains, well, awful. And it is in that spirit that I present my latest Godot-adjacent column:

Waiting For Ceasefire – a tragicomedy in one act

If it’s not too much of a fardel****, give it a read — it’s surprisingly short given how much bleak despair it packs in!

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* Probably the return of his stapler.

** Stoicism can be difficult regardless, but one must of course attempt to face such difficulties stoically.

*** Next time someone asks, “who would these fardels bear”, you can just pipe up and say, “Pretty sure I read a blogpost by a writer who happily bears some fardels.”

**** I’m trying to be literary by writing about fardels instead of fartels, which is the more usual humor writer topic. Also, let’s bring “fardels” back into the common parlance.*****

***** Also also, let’s bring “the common parlance” back into the common parlance.