I can remember opening my eyes on a beautiful summer morning and it felt so quiet and so peaceful as if I was the last person left on the planet. And I had no sense of loneliness as I felt the night before and I felt at peace with myself and the world around me. It seemed as if Parkinson's had almost left me for that brief moment in time and I felt relatively normal again. The bees were busily buzzing in the eaves of the house as they have done every summer, noisily going about their business looking after the queen bee. I could hear the birds singing their joyful song, as the tall poplar trees outside my bedroom window bent into the gentle breeze and it was a happy place to be. Nature seemed at one with itself. I felt at one with myself. I sat up in bed and waited for the medication to work so that I would feel balanced enough to walk to the bathroom. As I shuffled towards the door I could feel the furry tail of Milly our cat persuasively wrapping her tail around my leg, miaowing and trying to persuade me to go into the kitchen. So I succumbed to her charms, as I always do, and gave her some cream out of the fridge before she smacked her lips together happily and went on her way out through the catflap and into the garden to explore. I have to savor simple moments like this. They don't happen too often, and I know that they won't last forever and will change in time. You realize how important those simple little things are in life. They are the essence of our lives when nothing very important seems to be happening, and yet everything is happening. Life is going on around us and, as insignificant as it might seem in all its innocence and glory. But I did that one particular morning and it was an incredible feeling. It put everything in perspective. I realized that all was as it should be. Nothing had changed on that one summer morning. I made myself a cup of tea and I went outside into our wonderful garden. I walked down the garden path and opened up the summer house and I felt like a new man again and perfectly normal. It still felt quite chilly because the sun hadn't come around the back of the house to burn off the morning dew. But it was nice and quiet, and it felt so good to be outside in the fresh air with the blue sky above me and the earth below. I felt calm and happy just to be alive and it felt good to see the natural world around me. And for once in my life I didn't feel the need for anything artificial like a radio or television. They didn't seem to belong in the world I was in. I didn't need them because I was happy in my own company. Listening to the gentle breeze, blowing in the trees was music in my ears. Nature was singing to me and telling me I was normal again. I sat there very quietly, drank my cup of tea, and felt good about myself. Life to me is very simple now. I realize that I don't need possessions to make me smile. To make me feel happy. It's the simple things that matter so why overcomplicate my life and make it stressful? It's stress that has made me seriously ill and I realize that now and I wash my hands of it. I really don't need it because it has damaged me beyond repair. Life in a chemical world has polluted people. So, while I am still here I am going to enjoy moments like this. That simple cup of tea tasted wonderful as a jet plane roared over my head. Robert James Keene 2023