1 Orphanages and animal rescue centres in Upper Egypt, and bike-riding in the sunshine in Kent. There's a gap, is there not, between the first two and the third. Unwanted children being raised in an orphanage which is being maintained by donations from the UK. Distressed animals being cared for in a country, a part of the world, where a concern for animals may be akin to Doolittle's understanding or morals.
2 And a new grandson. To be viewed, to be held, to be cherished. And a familiar, younger daughter. To be cherished again.
3 Bike-riding in the sun. I've written an account of the ride for the website. Suffice it to say that it was a pleasure to be on a bike, in familiar company, on the route to Sevenoaks and on the return journey. We swept our way to the town: there were no hesitations or reversals or mistakes. Instead, we pedalled steadily for the 20-odd miles on the outward leg and just as steadily on the fewer-than-20-miles on the way back.
3.1 I hope we continue with the practice of a rota of leaders. It does bind the company; it does share the task, and the sharing develops our knowledge of the area and of the task of leading a group.
4 In my account, I have written of the view from the bridge (over the M25). Pace Abu Simbel, the view was such that it well-nigh vinmdicated the choice of route, it was an expression of the pleasures of cycling, that is, of being out on a bike in country such as passed through today. How good it was to be in this part of the world, how good to be able to cycle, how good to stop and view (as opposed to continue, without stopping, the slow, steady climb. A challenging climb, by the way.
5 Six for lunch was a companionable number. We chatted. We got on with each other. We got on with the ride back to EG. And I went to Waitrose, there to buy some pastries for my tea. And a spot of dinner (though I have sufficient left-overs from yesterday's).
6 Time, as you say, to return.
Looking forward to it.
Faithful hound
(Remember: St Benedict and his Rule on Tuesday evening.)
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Monday, 18 October 2010
A disappointment
1 Since my return, I have examined my 2008 and 2009 diaries: the only entry about a visit to Chester was made in January 2008. As I sense that I did not visit last year, it may well be that the gap between my recent and the preceding visits has been nearly three years.
2 Given the gap, I am an unreliable reporter of any changes in Jim's capacities. So I register what I observed this time. He is using the door as a support when he transfers between the wheelchair and the driving seat. I wonder how close he is to the limit of his strength in his arms. I sensed that I was watching an elderly man who is struggling to make the transfers.
3 However, the elderly man continues to dominate. He shouts at his wife. He is preemptory with his elderly brother. (At one time he asked me if I knew about the takeover by one firm of a potash firm in Saskatchewan; my failure to respond to the question - as I sought to understand what he was talking about - was compounded by my failure to know that the province was an important producer of the commodity.) Nothing is beyond him. He has an opinion, vigourously expressed, on everything. Daunting, really. No scope for discussion. And so we annoyed each other.
4 During the two evenings, watching television was the preferred activity. Jim, I gathered, watches until after midnight. He rises about 1000 or later.
5 So I left as a disappointed elderly brother of an elderly man. I arrived in hope; I left without hope of a reconciliation between two men of different dispositions.
6 I am about to delete my gmail group entitled. Instead, I will send individual e-mails to Mary and, probably less frequently, to Jim. Instead, I may adopt the habit, at least for the time being, of sending a letter to Sheila and to Jim, jointly. We'll see. (But the gmail group will be deleted.
2 Given the gap, I am an unreliable reporter of any changes in Jim's capacities. So I register what I observed this time. He is using the door as a support when he transfers between the wheelchair and the driving seat. I wonder how close he is to the limit of his strength in his arms. I sensed that I was watching an elderly man who is struggling to make the transfers.
3 However, the elderly man continues to dominate. He shouts at his wife. He is preemptory with his elderly brother. (At one time he asked me if I knew about the takeover by one firm of a potash firm in Saskatchewan; my failure to respond to the question - as I sought to understand what he was talking about - was compounded by my failure to know that the province was an important producer of the commodity.) Nothing is beyond him. He has an opinion, vigourously expressed, on everything. Daunting, really. No scope for discussion. And so we annoyed each other.
4 During the two evenings, watching television was the preferred activity. Jim, I gathered, watches until after midnight. He rises about 1000 or later.
5 So I left as a disappointed elderly brother of an elderly man. I arrived in hope; I left without hope of a reconciliation between two men of different dispositions.
6 I am about to delete my gmail group entitled
Thursday, 14 October 2010
The day had really started
1 Yes, I thought that the day had started when I acted as bag-carrier and driver. No, it hadn't. Back from Gatwick, in cycling kit, I went into Siberia to collect my Giro. Ah, no Giro. However, not only was there no Giro in the room, Lady Dorothy was absent too. You can imagine what I thought. A search - well, a look, given the size of the lady - in the garage, then in the shed, then - you just never know - round the back. The lady was not to be seen.
2 The bike couldn't have been stolen, could it? Not again? Maybe, it was at Haulcon. Maybe, though it is never left there. It lives in Siberia. Still, I could telephone the owner and ask. But it, as I suspect, the answer is No, then a fortnight's holiday will be stained by the news. (Remember, don't ask a question if you can't handle the answer.)
3 Round and round, or maybe up and down, or maybe in both directions at once, went the thoughts. And then, and then, came the recollection: Lady Dorothy had been delivered to the bike shop for a servicing. End of distress. Time to telephone the owner in order to wish her well. And now, the day having really begun, the rest of the jobs can be tackled. Biking, you say? There are jobs to be done.
16/10/2010
4 I've returned from Chester. I've returned to my own fireside (in a manner of speaking). No television. No constraints on my inclination to read. I've returned after two days with Jim and Sheila, my first visit to them for nearly two years.
5 Let me deal with the good bits of the day. I walked along the canal for about one-and-a-half hours. The houses along the bank. The bridges. The locks. I walked to the no 8 lock. At the previous one, I watched as two long-boats, side by side, went from high level to low, on their way to Chester. At the next lock, I opened one of the lock-gates, in aid of the woman who was opening the other. And I closed it when the boat had left the lock. Boats on the canal, walkers on the path, runners, and cyclists. In the sun. At one lock, I sat on the arm of the lock-gate, in the sun. All the years I have stayed in Chester, I have managed to overlook the canal.
6 The other bits. A sudden, immediate flare-up between Jim and me. I had been talking amiably to Sheila. He came into the kitchen. Flare-up. He prods, as I sense it; I reply. Later, when I returned, I registered his shouting at Sheila. He is rude, he is pre-emptory. He is incapable of discussing a topic. He doesn't get out enough.
7 I log these thoughts now lest I fail to do so later on. After the flare-up, I felt that I would not visit again, certainly not on my own, until sometime in 2012, at the earliest. Whatever the blood-connection, we just do not get on. He seeks to dominate, he is opinionated. I wonder if he conducts himself in that way towards other people (that is, besides his wife).
2 The bike couldn't have been stolen, could it? Not again? Maybe, it was at Haulcon. Maybe, though it is never left there. It lives in Siberia. Still, I could telephone the owner and ask. But it, as I suspect, the answer is No, then a fortnight's holiday will be stained by the news. (Remember, don't ask a question if you can't handle the answer.)
3 Round and round, or maybe up and down, or maybe in both directions at once, went the thoughts. And then, and then, came the recollection: Lady Dorothy had been delivered to the bike shop for a servicing. End of distress. Time to telephone the owner in order to wish her well. And now, the day having really begun, the rest of the jobs can be tackled. Biking, you say? There are jobs to be done.
16/10/2010
4 I've returned from Chester. I've returned to my own fireside (in a manner of speaking). No television. No constraints on my inclination to read. I've returned after two days with Jim and Sheila, my first visit to them for nearly two years.
5 Let me deal with the good bits of the day. I walked along the canal for about one-and-a-half hours. The houses along the bank. The bridges. The locks. I walked to the no 8 lock. At the previous one, I watched as two long-boats, side by side, went from high level to low, on their way to Chester. At the next lock, I opened one of the lock-gates, in aid of the woman who was opening the other. And I closed it when the boat had left the lock. Boats on the canal, walkers on the path, runners, and cyclists. In the sun. At one lock, I sat on the arm of the lock-gate, in the sun. All the years I have stayed in Chester, I have managed to overlook the canal.
6 The other bits. A sudden, immediate flare-up between Jim and me. I had been talking amiably to Sheila. He came into the kitchen. Flare-up. He prods, as I sense it; I reply. Later, when I returned, I registered his shouting at Sheila. He is rude, he is pre-emptory. He is incapable of discussing a topic. He doesn't get out enough.
7 I log these thoughts now lest I fail to do so later on. After the flare-up, I felt that I would not visit again, certainly not on my own, until sometime in 2012, at the earliest. Whatever the blood-connection, we just do not get on. He seeks to dominate, he is opinionated. I wonder if he conducts himself in that way towards other people (that is, besides his wife).
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