Sixty goes by and it's time for normal life

HITTING THE BIG SIX OH

No, not me.  That's still some time off, albeit now more easily reckoned in months than years.

Yesterday, on the last night of the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, we ended up at a couple more shows to bring our total of events for the period to sixty.  In twenty three days.  Slightly knackered, but elated with seeing so much great entertainment.  This is not the post to go into details of what we've been to, but The Nualas gained a couple of new fans last night.  And we finished with the godmother of Scottish comedy, so a laugh was guaranteed.

But this is more about reflecting on the artificiality of the Fringe-going life, and what is now to come.  If you've read previous posts you'll know that immediately prior to launching into all that comedy, drama, music, radio, TV and sundry other events we were tied up in the house moving process, shifting ourselves and worldly goods from Southport to Edinburgh (even if most of said goods now reside in a warehouse a mile from where I now sit), and trying to squeeze a quart of clothing etc. from a four bed semi into the pint pot of a two bed flat.  Which is a pretty artificial existence in itself, and even more knackering.  So it's been quite a few weeks since we've experienced anything resembling normal and I am looking forward to a quiet night in as much as if I'd been asked round to supper by Sidse Babett Knudsen.  Well, almost as much.  Maybe.

So having, in effect, just arrived, the new kids on the block, we have to contrive to find out what normal now looks like.  If normal can include house hunting, which looks like taking up a lot of our time in the coming weeks.  Viewing properties, getting to know various areas of the city better than we do at the moment, and acquiring Mastermind levels of knowledge of bus timetables.  So it's going to be an odd kind of normal, looking for another life to replace the one we're trying to establish.  And retirement's supposed to be restful?

There's one final block to something like normality.  A little local matter of a referendum, taking place in twenty three days time.  You might have heard about it.  Or even read how I reached my own decision on the subject.  The polls still say there will be a negative result, but three weeks is a long time and much can still happen.  So I'm going to offer my services to Yes.  It won't be much, but at least it's something.

So what is normal?  And can it include moving house, Fringing, seeking out a new home and trying to ensure the future of democracy in your country?  Normal might just be a bit boring.