My father wasn't the only relation of mine who people considered intelligent. Unlike most men who had been defeated by life he didn't turn to alcohol. He just chain smoked and drunk coffee. He was quite meek for man, never mind an ex- military man. But he snarled like a disgruntled wolf when any of my mum's family came up in conversation. His most disabling ailment was depression. He said it was seasonal affective disorder. That meant it was the outer elements - the seasons that were at fault but it wasn't.