Relaxation

 

Sitting out chilling with a book, electronically. A cuppa, wish I had some Earl Grey. Or even Lady Grey as that hint of orange is sometimes more appealing. After a long walk it's nice to just lie back and find a place of relaxation that I could not find for years. I lie back, read, sip and read again then invariably I fall asleep. It's a good sleep. Its not like lying at two in the morning wishing to find slumber land. It's natural. It's earned. I drift off with thoughts of whatever I was reading. I'm going to enjoy Mark Twain when it comes around and Jack London. This is my favourite time of day. 

Its not that not much else is happening, or maybe that is the case. I haven't really thought about it. What I was thinking about when I was lying out was how much things have changed for the better. There was a long period of time when I could not relax like this. There was a time when I could not walk far so could not tire myself out and instead I would sit nursing an underlying current of agitation that who distractedly buzz away enough to stop me finding focus and losing concentration. Something as simple as relaxing is not to be taken for granted. It costs nothing but that does not mean we can all have it. Many people have many worries that prevent them melting into a sofa or sleeping like a baby. We live in a world full of stresses where negativity is fired at us from all directions. It is a a high paced blur driving most from waking to sleep in an instant. It is the polar opposite from my memories of sitting on a small boat slowly floating down the Norfolk broads under a baking sun in those long summers. That is where I would like to be so in those moments that is where my mind takes me. 

It is not my plan to spend my days like this of course. My plan is to try to get back into life as soon as possible. But after the time I had last year I treasure these moments more than anything material and I hope they remain no matter how hard life gets around about them. 

Next in line

 

Not the best photo I know but it's not the best phone that I have and nor the best camera contained within it. It's cheap. Maybe if I had my actual camera, which I have not used in over a year, things would be different. Soon possibly. It is about time I got my camera back out again to push me out of the door. What the photo above is of, said better in words than visually, is a young fox. A new fox hanging around looking to be fed in some way. Stupidly fearless because he or she should carry fear or life won't last very long around here. The old fox is gone, long gone. It upset my wife but true to form she has gotten attached to this new one. 

I'd rather she didn't. I'd rather the dog was not barking loudly when I took him out. I'd rather our living room was not the soul illumination in the wee dark hours. I'd rather the wild were left wild because that is how they survive and any human kindness is a nail in their coffin frankly. They need to be afraid of us humans. They should be afraid of us humans.

It is a fruitless effort to argue. The ball is rolling and will keep rolling nightly. It will keep coming and my wife will keep feeding it. 

Strimming

  

A new neighbour moved in during lockdown but as he is rarely around I don't know much about him. When I took the dog out two days ago he was standing talking to another neighbour so I joined in. He'd bought a strimmer from Homebase and was taking care of his lawn. He made his case for his purchase which was reasonable enough. We don't have room for a mower and it is only a small patch of grass we all each have so it doesn't justify the purchase. Besides that it was only £15 for the strimmer and he had trimmed all of his grass with it. The other neighbour agreed and so she bought one too. She also offered it to me which I had planned on doing.

After a rethink though I bought my own. I think we need it. Space is a problem but they are not that big. I ended up spending more than I planned and more than my wife liked but I felt it better to spend a little more for various reasons. The neighbours had a cheap plastic £15 which does the job but not greatly and as one neighbour told me it took her all night. Also needed was a long extension lead so between the two probably £25. For twice that I could get a better one but also cordless. This was the big thing. That is a good price for a cordless one. For a Karcher the battery alone is £65. The big thing was though no cord. The alarm I felt previously cutting the grass when spotting the dog off his lead with busy traffic in the background pushed me into it. More so when I slowly went towards him and he started running toward the traffic. That was not good at all.

I finished the job today and it does look much better. I'm also confident now that while I will take up any offer of a mower in future I think without it I'll still be able to do it all with the trimmer. Now all I need to do is find a space to store it.