I had a terrific weekend. Why? Did I fly down to Rio for the remains of the carnival? Did I hop across the channel and spend a couple of days in Paris? Did I try hot-air ballooning, kayaking or climbing a Munro? Did I shoot some rapids? Perhaps I went water-skiing or joined a polo club, or maybe I drove a Formula 1 car with a turbo-charged commentary so I could pretend to be on Top Gear? Did I?
Er, no. I did none of those things, and yet I had a brilliant weekend. How so? Well, on Friday night I made a decision to watch less TV. I decided it was making me tired and lazy and meanwhile I had loads of books lying around unfinished. Saturday morning was my monthly meditation group, after which I had a brisk walk in the wind and sun in some woods overlooking a lake. Well I say lake, it’s usually more of a pond but what with the floods it’s more of a brown lagoon right now. Then in the afternoon I just hung out reading my book (Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante) and shared a beer with my nephew who dropped by and happened to be reading the first in the Neapolitan quartet, My Brilliant Friend for his uni course. Then we went to Pizza Express (OH and I, not the newphew.) I’d already had a couple of beers by then and ordered another in the restaurant. We had a long wait for our food but this enabled us to have a really good chat and to enjoy it more when it came. Then on Sunday instead of getting up and going to Meeting I had a really long lie in. Oh, the luxury of a lie in when you don’t normally get one! When I finally tumbled out of bed around eleven I walked down to our local Turkish cafe and had a pot of tea while I read some more Elena Ferrante and read my diary. In the afternoon I went hunting for floor lamps to enable me to read in the evening without straining my eyes. I found one in B&Q but I haven’t bought it yet.
And in the evening I made sure only to watch the programmes I wanted, namely Dr Who (great episode and the guy who plays the Master is amazing) and the ever-enthralling Last Tango in Halifax.
So that was it. It doesn’t sound like much, but small changes to a routine can make a big difference. You don’t have to go water-skiing in Paris to have a great weekend.
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 
It sure does feel empowering to resist the urge to watch something on a screen, especially when there is a pile of books calling. Having time outside and having a good chat is also a great way to recharge batteries. I have not done floor lamp hunting but I did once spend far too much time scouring the wilds of Amazon for a bed-side-lamp replacement but in the end decided to make do with what I had since the replacements didn’t have the switch I preferred, and the light output wasn’t the issue.
You’re right, it is empowering. I’m just beginning to realise the effects of watching several hours of TV at night. I keep meaning to get my piano keyboard out and I’ve a pile of books to read
Sounds lovely…. simple things!
Yes, they are the best