I am going to try and get into the habit of doing a weekly update of things. This will be as a minimum in terms of blogging and I will undoubtedly / hopefully / optimistically be blogging about other things in between. And so in kicking off my very first weekly update – all change for our daughters.
As you will know from recent posts, our eldest daughter is on her honeymoon. We are looking forward to seeing her and hubby next week, although it’ll be a brief visit to see them at David’s folks house. This has been an incredible year for Becky and this summer has been a golden time for her – graduating from uni, burning all of her lecture notes, settling into life long friendships, landing a jammy job in teaching, getting the keys to their house and getting married. Wow.
Hannah on the other hand is winding down from her job in Portsmouth. She has been working as a sailing instructor which has just been a seasonal job for her ahead of returning to college in September. Without going into the details, life can be a challenge for young people in the UK and some of this may apply.
Running
I have done quite a few Parkruns of late, often spurred on by my friends, especially Dave who has a knack of motivating many of us and allowing me to feel guilty if I don’t go. We have an unspoken understanding that one of us will provide some proper coffee afterwards.
I normally run the 5k in a little under 30 minutes which is a lot slower than a couple of years ago. Nevertheless I feel great immediately afterwards but sometimes fatigue hits me at the end of the day and lasts for a couple of days afterwards. I don’t completely understand why but no doubt my kidney consultant can explain why when I have my next batch of blood tests.
Last week when I was a Ivinghoe, there was a gathering of runners and I think they may have been from St Albans. There were about 30, mostly in their 30s and 40s with many looking very, very fit. I felt a degree of envy as they divided into subgroups according to their pace. As I watched the 8:30min/mile group set off I couldn’t help but admire their physiques and wish I was heading off with them – I used to run quite comfortably at that pace and indeed I maintained that pace in the last marathon I did.
More recently my friend Jon C has asked emailed to ask about running and to say he has a new Garmin. He’s the kind of bloke who genuinely enjoys a good run with a friend and he won’t be gloating for a second about his new toy. Actually for someone so well-healed he did make me laugh before in having his old Garmin held on with a rubber band. So perhaps we might go running with each other again….
Brexit
I am sure most people have been somewhat outraged by Boris Johnson suspending Parliament. Even more worrying even more is the fairly obvious lie of doing this in order to prevent any opposition or debate about Brexit taking place.
Naturally this is Cameron’s fault for having a referendum in the first place and the chain of misguided developments since. It is interesting to see who seems to be following Johnson, such as the Jacob Rees-Mogg characters and contrast this MPs who have the courage to stand up against this.
If there was a peaceful march in protest at our democracy being compromised, I would probably take part. I like the idea of mass, silent protests to shame those in power and to possibly prick their consciences.
I have written to my MP to express my concern about these developments and to ask where he stands. I have taken care to do this very politely. I await his reply.
Given the right opportunity, I think I’d join a protest march against Boris Johnson and his terrible approach.
Changing seasons
There is definitely a sense of the summer fading away. Rachel is always the first to comment on this, predicting bad weather, the arrival of autumn and needing to get the central heating switched on again. Likewise I always remind her how September is often a gorgeous month with lovely light and warm temperatures, albeit shortening daylight.
Activities at church are looking to resume soon, Hannah will be back at college and I will be restarting my arty farty activities soon. The prison art project is concluding, Christians Against Poverty plods along, Citizen’s Advice is drawing me in more and more as an active trustee.
I still need something else to work on…..
- Digital Dunstable
- Making a photographic record of the High Street as it is (to involve local photographers, create a website, talk to the Town Council, grant making bodies and so on)
- Decorating our house, plus getting to grips with some DIY (I don’t feel very confident about this these days)
- Establishing a few more defined routines
- Being more regular in having folk around, perhaps a set day each week
