Day Forty Five - Panic, Turds and Music

Moment of panic on my walk this morning. Ahead of me I saw what appeared to be a man falling to the ground! I was too far away to see clearly but it looked as if his arms and legs were flailing about and I feared he was having some kind of fit or seizure. I got my phone out to call 999 with all kinds of thoughts going through my head. How close should I, could I, get safely? In a life and death situation I guess all thoughts of coronavirus should dissolve? But when I got nearer I realised it was some jerk of a jogger doing his rather exaggerated stretches on the bloody path! FFS! The path!! Prostrate on the path! Can you believe that? Or is it me? It's actually reminded me of the time when I was walking up there and a couple had brought their home gym equipment to a patch of the grass there to do their exercises. I would like to say surely that's not essential but maybe they lived in a very tiny flat and just didn't have the room to do it. And they were socially distanced from everyone else so I guess it was okay. I've never seen them since that one time.

Whilst we're on the subject of my daily walk I've noticed that most days I come across a trail of small dog turds. They're not always in the same place, they're on different paths. But they look the same each day. So I've come to the conclusion that some arse takes his dog for an early walk and the poor dog has to poo as it walks along. And I guess any dog owner who is prepared to let the dog do that is not prepared to clear aforementioned crap off the path. It's like a slalom when you're walking. That's walking, there's absolutely no hope for the joggers! There are several places you can see where they've splatted the turds. Apologies for the subject matter but, see here, I tell it like it is. 😉

I haven't mentioned much about the music I've been listening to on my walks lately, have I? ( no, thank goodness, I hear some of you say). Well, tough, I'm going to tell you about it because it's my blog and I'll do what I like. 😉 I've been going for albums more than compilations recently. I seem to be able to maintain a reasonable rhythm without needing a strong beat. Today I was listening to Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay. When I hear the song, Paradise, I always think of my friend who emigrated to Portugal.

'When she was just a girl she expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
So she ran away in her sleep and dreamed of
Para-para-paradise, para-para-paradise, para-para-paradise
Every time she closed her eyes.'

Somehow it seems to summarise her view of things, before she went to Portugal that is. Kinda makes me sad because I miss her and she's still chasing her dreams to a degree. But then aren't we all?

Yesterday I was listening to Neko Case's Hell On. I love Neko. One of those people I discovered quite unexpectedly. Somebody lent my brother a hard drive absolutely full of mp3 files. He was down staying with my mum at the time, that's how long ago it was, and he lent the drive to me to take whatever music I wanted from it. There's lots of stuff I did know but I'm always keen to try new stuff. I listened to an album there from Neko. It was called Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. I absolutely loved it. I kept listening to it. There is a curious kind of echo she gets not just to her voice but to the guitars and keyboards. And it has a interesting kind of atonal quality to it. It's not what you'd call commercial for the most part but she is a gifted lyricist. I then checked out all her albums, everything she's ever done. And I continue to buy her albums when she makes them. I've seen her twice too. And that's brilliant because she doesn't tour often and she certainly doesn't come to the UK that frequently. I saw her once at the Union Chapel in London which is an amazing venue. And I was right at the front. I could've touched her!  I went with my sister who was interested to see the venue. Couple of years back she was over here again and she was doing a gig at the Barbican. I asked my sister if she wanted to go. She said no she wasn't that bothered about seeing her again. So I kinda thought oh well that's that. Glad at least I got to see her once. And then I had this amazing surprise from my sister. She booked us seats! And it was a lovely surprise just before Christmas. They were fantastic seats too, not the front row, but only a few rows back. So I'm happy now. If I never see her again I'm okay with it. 

My sister and I were discussing how different our postal deliveries are. She lives in London and her post tends to come in one great bundle on one day. Whereas my deliveries seem to be as normal. But we were talking about how we sanitise the post. And she was telling me about what she calls her "sanitation station". She has one of those kitchen trolley things that won't fit in her current kitchen but did in her old apartment. So she has it by the stairs. She lives in a corner house, a two up, two down house where the front door opens straight into the living room. So the post will come straight into her lounge so to speak. That's why she has her sanitation station there by the front door. And I was telling her about my sanitation basket. Which I also have right by the front door. So anything coming in; me, any deliveries, any post, can be dealt with and sanitised there in the hall without bringing any potential contagion further into the house. I've got wipes, disinfectant spray, hand sanitiser, gloves and facemasks all in a little plastic basket. Here is a photo because I'm sure you can't wait to see what it looks like.

It's Thursday again. How the weeks spin past. So quickly. I can hardly believe it. So it'll be the clap for carers again tonight at 8 pm. I'm not sure I'm going to join in today. I think it was a novel idea to begin with but it has lost so much of the initial impact. People are making it about themselves, as so often happens. I may change my mind though. Sentimental old fool that I am. I'll let you know tomorrow.