“It is a terrible affliction, not being able to sing”

I WANT to lie down and watch the trees stipple sunlight on the world, down in the garden with the moon daisies, on a blanket with my book.

But instead I’m in the car — destination: Cork — with my husband, a mountain bike, petrol-can, jump-leads, and dispiriting agenda:

1. Attend two bizarrely synchronised hospital appointments: Magnetic Resonance Imaging of lower back in Euromedic, 2.10p.m (me), surgical evaluation of cartilage in South Infirmary, 2.40p.m (husband).