8

Blimey, sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything.  Funnily enough it’s not due to too much work – pretty much the opposite really.  For the first time in years I’ve had some lovely time away from frantic deadlines and tight briefs (oo er missus) and as a result I’ve dropped into a lower gear.  A much lower gear in fact; I’m so chilled I’m practically going backwards. 

So I’ve been making the most of it while it lasts.  It’s given me the time and mental space to try to reprogramme myself creatively, somehow, and chance to revisit some of my own projects which had long been abandoned.   Trying to free myself up in this way has been a slow process - a sort of reboot - and not as easy as I thought, but I feel great for doing it.  Just look at all those "re"s in those last few lines: reprogramme/revisit/reboot - I think that says it all.  And I can’t stop walking, I’m walking miles.  Ever so slightly obsessed. Packing as much in as I can before work all kicks off again and I get rooted to the spot.

Anyway, enough of all that, that was just to explain why I’ve not been very productive here lately, as being elsewhere in my head with all those "re" things means I haven’t felt quite so much of a need, if that makes sense.  However, I felt I had to write something quickly this afternoon because this blog is celebrating a birthday today!   It’s 8 years old, which I find kind of shocking; it means I’ve been blogging for more years than I was in secondary education!  Quite a scary thought, but nice too.  I’ve loved being able to come here for a multitude of reasons, mainly to have a personal place away from everything else, a platform to indulge in whatever takes my fancy. Being able to rabbit on about things that might not necessarily crop up in a general conversation, and not worry that I’m going to be met with weird looks (well, at least I can’t see them).  I always wanted it to be an undefined place with no confines, never knowing or planning what I'm going to write about next, so it's very freeing.  Plus  I’ve been really lucky to find myself among the loveliest fellow bloggers and commenters who just seem to get it and how brilliant is that? - honestly, I couldn’t wish for more here in this online world.  So, huge thanks to you!

Help yourself to cake! x

Senses

I could not believe the colour of the sky today...

I mean, just look at that!

The snow of last week has melted and even though the cold air was cutting and I was wrapped in a thick fluffy coat, the overly long sleeves of my jumper pulled down to envelop the cuffs of my gloves, that feeling of soaking up the warm sunshine on my face seemed like an act of defiance.

I strode briskly up to the church, through the graveyard and then along to my favourite place, this long avenue of lime trees.   I love the way the huge clusters of mistletoe adorn the trees’ branches like giant green pom-poms.

When I walk like this, I drift into a sort of autopilot mode; my mind goes into freefall; I'm sure most people find the same when walking alone.  I love these moments of solitude in my head. 

I started thinking about all sorts of things – about WWI soldiers (we’d watched the incredibly poignant film ‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ last night) and about Henry Moore’s sheep drawings and about the blister on the back of my ankle and what it might look like when I take off my sock.  (Not good, as it happens.  Raw!)  But then all those thoughts trickled away, just trickled away…. they had been too busy…  and I started to notice only how heightened my senses had become, out here, in the cold, in the sun, in the moment.   Everything so vivid. I could hear a bluetit up in the branches, then a mistle thrush.  I could smell the manure from the fields, hear the crunch of gravel beneath my boots and the squeaky wheel of a tricycle ahead in the distance as a small child navigated his way between potholes, I could see the rooks on the gate, their plumage illuminated by the sunlight. 

I just went with it, feeling in every sense totally, dazzlingly, alive.  (Sorry to be so corny.)

Inevitable then, anyway, that this song should come into my head!