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A vintage wall box

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Curious, I stopped in front of this object embedded in a wall. A box, of course but for what purpose?   My initial reaction was that it was for letters but there is no opening through which to post them. My attention moved to the central keyhole - without a handle this appears to be the sole means of opening and closing the box. It is visibly old with its aged yellow surround like an aura smudged at its centre with traces of red and blue. Distressed and much weathered, the name of the manufacturer is worn or overpainted and so not quite visible. Although recessed, the box stands out from its surrounding gaining prominence from the black background. It sits on a band of blue, separated from another at the base. Curlicues painted black and orange on a red background reprise the ornate scroll work at the top of the box. I am curious about this. Does the key still exist? Does it work? How many copies of it are there? And I am curiouser still about its purpose. If not letters then wh...
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A mist of web and raindrops

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  I nearly walked past this shrub earlier on.   I'm glad I didn't because a little while later this natural occurence had disappeared.   A mist of web and raindrops had cloaked the plant. Entrapment by spiders surely to lure in unwary insects. The strategy reminded me a little of the Sirenes singing in the Ulysses epic. So as not to yield to the tempting invitation the hero in that story had himself bound to the ship's mast while the sailors had their ears blocked with wax so they couldn't hear the fateful song. It succeeded in the story but I am not sure how it worked out for the insects or the spiders in the shrub. I cannot really criticise the insects for falling prey.  It's part of the natural cycle of things.  And anyway, I stopped to investigate so I guess I too fell for the strategy. Glad I stopped and paid attention though. Would have "mist" it otherwise. Have you had a similar experience? Spotted any other of nature's fatal attractions?
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A favourite curious opening

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  One of my favourite "curious openings" snapped on a trip to Granada, Andalucia, Spain back in 2023.  I remember that I spotted it and returned to take the picture. I wondered then and have wondered since why such a lovely door received so much graffiti attention.  You will see the starred handle easily enough but the keyhole is tiny. It seems out of proportion with the stature of the door. I wonder who passes through the opening and what stories lie behind.  Were the inhabitants present when the "artists" went to work? Did they hear the spray can hiss and splatter?  Or did they return home to find the damage done?  Was it one night's work or spread over time?  A recurrent problem? Was the apparent sturdiness of the door the very thing that drew the antisocial behaviour?   Curious indeed.
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Where are the kings. Donal Ryan. Reflection.

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  Where Are The Kings Donal Ryan Transworld Digital, Penguin Random House, via NetGalley Advance Reader Copy (ARC) Read on Kindle Publication date: August 2026 4* I have physical copies of all of Donal Ryan's books, so when NetGalley offered me an advance reader copy of Where Are the Kings for review, I jumped at the chance.  The title immediately intrigued me.  Was a question mark missing? A glance at the dedication page deepened the mystery.  There was an extract from WB Yeats's On Baile's Strand, depicting someone fighting "crowns" on the waves amid cries of "Where are the kings?" The passage hints at struggle, grief and perhaps even madness—elements that resonate throughout the novel. Just a few minutes into the first chapter, I read: “There doesn't have to be a reason for crying. 
Sometimes crying just starts itself up in a person, and the person has no control of it.” This is our young protagonist, 12-year-old Jack, watching his mother. What a ...
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Night flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - and a tragic poignancy

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  Night Flight , Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, with an introduction by André Gide Translated by Stuart Gilbert, Penguin Books, 1940 edition. This English translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Vol de Nuit came from a late friend's bookshelves. The Penguin edition with its distinctive orange-and-white cover, denoting works of fiction, is now 86 years old and the content very much of its time.  Aviation was in its pioneering age and although the events described are tragic, the French writer, André Gide in his introduction writes "great though these risks still are, they are growing daily less, for each successive trip facilitates and improves the prospects of the next one."  Sadly those diminishing risks were not realised as is apparent by  another book from the same shelves—a book that survived an air crash. Back in 2001 my friend had ordered a title on the Geology of Ireland from a bookseller in Selkirk, Scotland. The book was on board an aircraft that crashed into ...
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