Well, we did the digital detox thing – and it was good. It’s hard at first because these habits are ingrained, but we had a great conversation on Friday night and on Saturday the son and I went to visit a relative. She lives in sheltered accommodation overlooking Watermead Park and we took our lunch out onto the balcony and ate there. It was delightful, a beautiful day with lovely views. I can’t say I really missed my phone and in the afternoon I sat in the garden and read a book almost cover to cover with no distractions. Excellent. And a double dose of Casualty in the evening: what could be better?
Sunday was good too; I went for a short bike ride and after Quaker Meeting tackled some of the frankly horrendous weeds in the garden. Then in the evening I watched the new Jimmy McGovern drama Time, which is shaping up to be an excellent series. It is utterly devoid of cliche and has the hallmark of someone who absolutely knows what he’s writing about. So I recommend that. I also attacked my hair yesterday; I’m fed up with it being long and straggly but can’t summon the enthusiasm – let alone the cash – to go to the hairdressers so I thought, let’s up and at it again. Which would have been fine except that the clippers, which are battery-operated, ran out of juice before I’d finished, so right now I look as if I’ve been scalped by a blind man on a rampage. Not to worry, I’ll finish it later and meanwhile I don’t have anywhere to be so it doesn’t matter; I can always cover the mess with a baseball cap if necessary.
A propos of which, some photos emerged over the weekend. First I had my son take one of me in a red baseball cap which he calls my MAGA hat; then my sister sent over some photos of me when I was about 14; one in a bikini in the vicarage garden and one with our father in York. The thing that struck me was how thin I was; the comparison is quite sobering. I’m now slightly overweight and can’t seem to lose it; I’m thinking of going to the doctors for a thyroid function test to see if that’s the cause.
And that’s us up to date. How have you been?
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 