I’ve been reading a book about an animal psychic who converses with creatures as diverse as crickets and squirrels. All you have to do, she claims, if you want some animal or insect to do something, is ‘frame’ it in pictures in your own mind first, and then, if you can, frame it again from the point of view of the creature. Sustain the internal pictures for a while, and Bob’s your uncle.

Well, this morning, I was in the kitchen and there was a large bluebottle buzzing around. Restraining an impuse to swat it, I ‘framed’ a picture of the bluebottle landing on the window, walking up two panes of glass, negotiating the metal frame, and escaping into the wide open spaces. I then ‘saw’ him do much the same, from his angle.

Blow me if he didn’t do just what I asked! At the end, he hovered on the metal frame, tipped his wings in acknowledgement, before skedaddling off. Hey ho.