Once again I have retreated — or advanced — to books.
In an interview, Naomi Wolf referred to this, implying that I had retreated to my "parlour" when things got "difficult".
The door guy said it was "list only," so I have retreated to a base camp on the opposite corner, where I am pretending to text Sean Lennon and indicating frustration at this unexpected delay.
So on the Sunday of that match I had retreated west and was mowing the lawn when my wife, hardly an expert in these matters, interrupted me with news that "there's something funny going on at The Oval".
"I must do my duty as caretaker prime minister according to the constitution," she said, adding: "I have retreated as far as I can - give me some fairness".
I have retreated to the basement because my stepson, Gavyn, is upstairs concluding the first visit that he has had with his biological father in two years.
But within a few weeks I had retreated into the protective cocoon of grief, while I went through the motions of daily life, numb and slightly dazed.
I had retreated to the solitude of my desk when I got a message from the Captain telling me to come to the break room.
