The Black Moon

I always felt that Dad played "Who Painted The Moon Black" in memory of, and mourning for, Mum. After he died, it became to me the song that remembered them both, and their love for each other. After Mum died, I published Dad's collection of poems "A Fountain Stirred" which he compiled in memory of her, and which initially raised funds from the sale for a pancreatic cancer charity. Then we worked together on his magnum opus, "A Road So Travelled", but it was truly a large book, requiring lots of transcription of articles, and for his birthday in 2021 I ran off the first, biographical and family history, section of the book as a special publication, "Times Remembered" in hard back, for him and close family. By the end of the year, and into 2022, the main book was almost complete, with Dad adding a final article on his and Mum's Norwegian cruise (their last holiday together). When he was dying in hospital, I was able to show him the proof of the book, though it would not be till his funeral that I had first published copies for people. I'd promised him to complete a series of books myself, honouring our family memory, and since 2022 have been working hard on them. One series covers holidays, from those in the motorhome in 'Childhood of Dreams' to others. Another series looks at our 'Childhood Home' in Peterborough. Some more focus on ancestry elements. Then my own Magnum Opus sees books covering 1968 to 2004, with the period 1981-1989, plus 1992, covered in individual volumes as "A Year as a Book." I also brought things up to date, with 'The Last Days' and 'The End of Times' covering the collapse of this world into chaos and destruction, and 'Scotland - The Final Visit' rounding off a lifetime's fascination with that country. This volume, 'The Black Moon' merely completes that series, contrasting again going away with home life. It also comes full circle, with my return to Cornwall after 20 or so years, and aims to bring the circular story to a fitting conclusion.