Saturday, December 19, 2020

Losing the Plot Part IV

 

Due to the time of year, with its shortage of daylight that has been getting me down, as is usual for me since I am one of those S.A.D. people, I will be suddenly happier when the Winter Solstice has passed. That may sound daft but I do instantly think ‘Well, that’s the worst of it over’, and that much is true. The shortest day will be on Monday next though the 8.02 sunrise will not actually be the latest time and it goes on for the rest of the month with it coming at 8.04 for a while even, but at the same time the sunset starts to get a teeny bit later, hardy noticeable but it’s a start and I am encouraged by the very passing of the mid-winter day. The sight of the first of the bulbs just peeking through in the pots in my back garden is also cheering from my point of view.  


 

 Coupled with all of the above, the plague season, has added to my difficulties, in that I have been keeping myself as distanced as possible, fit as I am, due to the advice given for people of my age, (over 80), plus that I do have Asthma inherited from my father, which means that any bug that manages to land in me will quickly go to my chest. So with all this in my mind, and probably many other people, I have found it hard this year to find the approach of Christmas any kind of cheery thing. In fact, far from that, I have found the season very stressful and due to that I have not been able to get to grips with the season that is usually a jolly, holly clad fun time. Well that’s my excuse for being a complete and utter kill joy this year, I haven’t written a single Christmas card let alone posted any or gone out to do bundles of Christmas shopping. I hope everybody will forgive me for this. Well, the kind people will I’m sure.


 Over the years since Steve and I started in the marvellous sport of triathlon, we have always listed the amount of friends we have made as one of the major benefits, as well as one of the most important rewards for all the hard training. I have missed the people who shared our training sessions at the pool and who we had often seen out on their bikes or running in the same sort of places as us and we have met them regularly over the past thirty plus years during which time we have founded and run triathlon clubs for many years and helped and coached as many people as we could happily and for no reward.

 

For most of this year we have seen very few of our friends at all and that has been the hardest thing of all for me, approaching torture. I mentioned this today to one of the handful of pals who have kept in touch with us in all the usual ways, making regular phone calls, text messages as well as FB and Instagram, and he said that they were probably staying away to protect me which is more than likely the case but OMG how much I miss everybody is quite alarming. Please God let it all be over soon. Even a slightly more normal life would be a blessing. Hope the authorities hurry up with those Vaccinations. All government promises seem to be in the long term don’t they, at the faaaaar end of the tunnel.

 

   Steve sold our little old car Marcus this week VW Golf GT TDI. Steve gave him a good clean up and simply put a notice in the car window with a phone number and there was a call and a visit very quickly. Steve warned the young caller that the insurance for somebody that young would be high because it was a fast car even though it was old, but the very nice young man of twenty, said he had been looking for that exact car and his dad who had spotted it, had called him to hurry on round to look at it. Steve took him for a drive and they went to somewhere bright for him to look it over rather than just in the road outside out house.

 

When they got back to our house to look over the papers outside our garage, where I was placing some washing in the machine, I said ‘Hello’ to the young guy and asked how he was enjoying the plague season, He said, politely enough, that he thought it was all nonsense, a scam, and that he wasn’t taking any notice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then having looked at me with my white hair I suppose, added, “Well of course it’s different for you”.

Too right it is. I smiled and kept my thoughts to myself and went back indoors.

 

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