It’s been
an awful long time since I wrote anything on this blog (some 15 months). I’ve
scribbled the odd ‘reflective note’ (and even some prose – although never very
successfully) in various notebooks.
I’ve just
started reading Jonathan Coe’s book ‘Bourneville’ (published in 2022)… a novel
arising from his own childhood growing up in ‘the Midlands’ (and including
references to his mother Mary, born in 1934) and the life we’ve lived over the
past 75 years… including such things as “the coronation and the World Cup
final, royal weddings and royal funerals, Brexit and Covid19”.
In my own
75th year, I’ve become far more aware of my own mortality(!).
Although I still enjoy good health, my body has started to ‘wear out’… I need
another hip replacement (I now walk with a stick and my mileage has become
severely reduced); my hearing and sight reflect my old age (I now have 3-monthly glaucoma eye
checks); I need to wear ‘medical stockings’ all the time to reduce problems
associated with varicose veins and the like; my hands shake on occasions; my
teeth are falling out.
My world
has definitely shrunk. I no longer drive (although I still have a licence, I
took a decision to stop driving some 6 months ago)… I depend of public
transport to get around (coupled with my frustrations of not being able to walk
any real distances). I’ve become quite anxious wherever travelling is concerned
(not helped by numerous rail strike days and cancelled trains – resulting in
being unable to reserve seats etc)… having to depend on timetables and arriving
in good time! I currently don’t have a passport and I no longer yearn to travel
abroad or embark on exciting adventures. Basically, I’ve become very boring.
Very
unusually, I’m also finding myself comparing our lifestyle (and sense of
adventure) with some of our friends/family… for instance: Alan+Lesley taking
perhaps 7 holidays a year (perhaps 2 or 3 of which are abroad); Robin+Sue
spending perhaps a third of their lives in Spain (and, when home, gallivanting
around the country); Dave+Sarah recently returned from Oberammergau Passion
Play in Germany and are currently in Italy on a pilgrimage.
On top of
this, I’m still in a spiritual wilderness (which has perhaps been the case for
the past 3-4 years?) – so much so that, last November, I decided to take an
indefinite sabbatical from attending church services while I endeavour to wait
for this period to pass. 10 months on, nothing really has changed (I’ve been
one afternoon ‘service’ at Saint Stephen’s… which certainly didn’t inspire me).
The fact
is… that I’m a quite boring person! My adventures seem to be limited to:
reading, bookgroup, sketching, cinema, urban sketchers and Blokes!
Just a series of random reflections compiled during the coronavirus crisis. March 2020
Friday, September 8, 2023
Friday 8 September 2023
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