Thirty Days in September

THE FINAL DAYS, THE FINAL THOUGHTS

Two more days to pick a Thing for, and a chance to think about what I've written over this series of posts.  Is there anything meaningful to be drawn from the process, either of myself or for others?  Well I can only speak for myself, so I leave the latter to you.

Monday 29 September.  The day passed with writing and reading and walking and shopping (only for food) and cleaning the flat.  No pilates again this week.  But the highlight came in the evening, going up into town and down into Waverely Station.  Barbara's return.  Good to have her back again.  I was never lonely while she was away, and we talked on video every day, but having her back is always an improvement.

Tuesday.  A day of the mostly mundane.  I picked up my big bag of prescription pills from the pharmacy.  We went out in the evening to a successful, but largely boring, AGM for the housing estate we live on.  So my 'Thing' for the day is a bit different, as it's about the future.  We had already planned to go down to Preston in November, because there is a Wallace and Gromit exhibition on, and we've always been fans of the plasticine pair.  The one night trip extended to two when we heard that an old friend's band is playing as a support act in Southport the night before we'd planned to go.  And that they were supporting an American duo I've become a fan of in recent years.  One of the best things in life is having things to look forward to...

So that was my month, or at least a few highlights from it.  A lot of the ordinary and mundane is missing.  The efforts to hit a decent step count each day. The regular visits to supermarkets (usually Lidl...), because we eat fresh fruit for breakfast each day and we're always running out of one or another berry or citrus or whatever.  The TV dramas we binge watch in the evenings.  And, since last Xmas, the shared fun of building Lego sets.

You hear of people feeling a bit lost when they retire.  The structure and routine that work provided is gone and they find that hard to replace.  Humans need some structure in life.  People like excitement and novelty, but also need a framework that provides reassurance and a sense of purpose.  My life now provides sufficient of that. Weekly classes and volunteering.  Seasonal entertainment and sport.  The festival month of August.  But also the additions to the routine, like trips away, cinema visits, outings in Daffy.  

It feels like I should end this series of posts with some kind of message, a life lesson or nugget of truth.  I'm not sure I really have one, or maybe I just scared of sounding pretentious.  But I'll have a go, and finish on that.

Contentment lies in the joys of small things.

Seven days in September (#4)

 WEEK 4

We've hit the final full week of  Things being done.  Is there any variety left?  Is anyone still following this?  Do I care...?

Monday 22 September.  I went to pilates alone, but made it up to Waverley in plenty time to wave goodbye to our guest.  After a trip to some shops it was time for a cake stop, this time in the Hopetown Coffee on Broughton Street.  A lovely and friendly not-for-profit place, with interesting artwork on the walls, and comfy seats.  Cake stops do seem to feature frequently in our days out...

Tuesday.  Today's short play was funny at times, but not one of the better ones in the series.  So for today's best 'Thing' I'm back to cake.  After some shopping we went into Princes Street Gardens and had our cakes sitting in the sun by the Ross Fountain.  In glorious sunshine.  Maybe the last opportunity to do so this year?

Wednesday.  Pilates was good, the toastie in Cafe Marmalade after that was tasty.  But the best bit was then going to see my befriendee, and having the weather and her health both be conducive to an outing.  We got her shopping, we went into a cafe, we had a laugh and a chat and I hope I brightened up her day a bit.

Thursday.  Haircut, film and pizza day.  I enjoy going to get my hair done.  For the past couple of years I've been having it done by Martin, a heavily tattooed Czech who, like me, has scoliosis, and (unlike me...?) is always great fun to chat with.  I always leave there feeling better.  The film was The Naked Gun, of which I was nervous as remakes of old classics are often poor, but this was a pretty well done homage.  And pizza because why not?

Friday. Left to my own devices again.  By 11 Barbara's train was pulling out of Waverley, heading south to see family and friends.  I had a long walk, went home, and the afternoon passed by without me feeling bored.  If only I knew what I'd been doing!  But the best bit of the day came later on, when I thought I'd give Daffy a run in the dark.  I put about 15 miles on her clock, and had a great time feeling one with my ancient machine on quiet roads.  And somebody saw her and smiled.

Saturday.  A few jobs done at home, rugby watched on the TV, and out to the rink in the evening.  For one of the more memorable Caps matches.  Playing our nearest rivals, Kirkcaldy Kestrels, this one could have gone either way.  We scored, they scored, we scored, they scored, etc.  You get the idea. We briefly had a 2 goal lead, but by the end it was 5-5.  Overtime up next, and nobody scored, although both goalies were busy.  Which meant penalties to decide the result, and for this one point in the weekend I was glad I was on my own.  Barbara is not temperamentally suited to watching shootouts without risk of coronary arrest! 😂  No goals in the first 4 rounds, despite a Kestrel waltzing smoothly round our keeper, Ben Keddie, to open up the net only to find a flying twisting Cap blocking the puck.  Possibly the most remarkable, and hard-to-believe save I've ever seen at Murrayfield.  And in round 5 Sean Cochrane allowed the crowd to breathe again when he slotted the puck in gloves-side, brought us to our feet and the volume to max.  6-5 and I drove Daffy home with a smile.

Sunday.  Walking and shopping and doing stuff on the PC and eating and watching a film on TV.  But the biggest smiles of the day were produced by sporting news from elsewhere.  Caps won again, this time beating the Kestrels 3-5 in their own rink.  And Europe retained the Ryder Cup.  While I don't take much interest in golf these days, hearing that they'd defeated an unsporting US team, and silenced a despicably Trumpian home crowd, sounds like the perfect outcome.

The final week done, two more days to write about, and some thoughts on my own month.  That's the next post.