There are many profoundly sad things in the world, so one hesitates to mention the minor ones. But then, if they do portend or point to something greater, perhaps we have an excuse.

For me, one of the most disheartening things in life is to open a book, find it marked up and annotated by you – and have no recollection of ever having read it.

Is this just me? If it’s a sign of early Alzheimer’s, don’t tell me.

I’ve decided to read The Decameron, a copy of which sits on my shelf, so there’s no doubt I’ve owned it for a while. I opened it – ah, this will be new, I thought. A monstrous introduction, though – over a hundred pages – but that’s probably necessary. Let’s get going here…

As I got into the intro, I encountered those…underlinings, asteriks and question marks that pepper any text I read (in versions that I mark up – never a hardback, though) – I made it about 3/4 through the intro last time, it seems – whenever that was. I have no memory of it – at all.. It’s all news to me!

Perhaps I need to go do some crossword puzzles or whatever it is they say to do to keep your brain going as you age….