It’s been a quiet year in South Bridlington.
In fact nothing much happened until August 11th, and that wasn’t exactly earth shattering.
The year started with its normal rhythms – dumping barrow loads of home made compost on the no-dig beds, These now almost cover the entire area.
The first 3 months were spent revisiting the books I had assembled on 14th Century European history and literature. A surprising number. Chaucer was once again a pleasure and a delight. All this was leading up to re-reading Shakespeare’s Henry 5th to prepare for a cycle ride to Agincourt. The Big Battle was in October 1415 when Our Lads slogged their way through rain and mud and set up shop on a hill in a field in the middle of nowhere. The thousands of heavily armoured French nobility on their cart horses poured up the hill at them, got in each other’s way, and got stuck in the mud. We slaughtered them. It was a bit like that in March 2023. Plenty of mud but without the slaughter.
It had rained heavily for several weeks and the rough tractor paths that the cycle sat nav found were full of pools designed to clog up the wheels of anyone stupid enough to try to ride through them. A real history lesson in how thoroughly miserable it all was. Miserable? Well, yes. I found to my complete surprise that I wasn’t enjoying the struggle. Last year’s crash had an unexpected effect. I became weary. The legs were OK, but my shoulder that had been dislocated was finding it hard to keep control of the bike through all the mud. The experience took me back to 1962 when I cycled from Manchester to Totnes via Croydon, and reached the stage of finding even the gentlest incline hard work. When I came across one of the 3 stations (in 1965) at Yeovil, I said stuff this for a lark and got the next train to Exeter and then to Totnes. So it was that 61 years later. I reached Nancy, stayed the night there, and then got a train to Namur at the foot of the Ardennes. The next day it rained. Never mind. On along by the river and up an Ardenne. The weather forecast for the next day was for much heavier rain. Back down to the river, back to Namur, and across into Belgium by train. The ride through Belgium to the Rotterdam ferry was a doddle.
Is this the end, then? He always said he would keep cycling until he didn’t enjoy it. And then stop. Ah, it’s not as easy as that. How about 1 more ride across flat countryside without the tractor routes, just to see whether the problem was just the mud? Rotterdam to Copenhagen is pretty flat.
The preparation for the Autumn ride entailed seeing whether Rotterdam to Schleswig-Holstein looked plausible. It did. Once there, just see whether a cycle ride through flat Danish countryside looks inviting. It is. When will he ever learn?
Wonderful wonderful Schleswig Holstein is available for your amusement.
But what about August 11th? It is all documented. A not-so-passing motorist tried to kill me. Unsuccessfully, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this.
The Autumn ride was a huge success. I can hang up my cycle clips in triumph.
Nearly.
It will be 20 years in March-May next year when I had a go at dying.
In order to thank the splendid nurses and Doctors at Bradford Royal Infirmary for defying me I hope to cycle from Bridlington to BRI for April 20th.
I’m sure they will be most impressed.
Ah, the intention is to raise a fortune for the Hospital Social Services unit. Judy was almost overwhelmed by the responsibility of taking care of Aunt Vi on her own, and they rescued her. Aunt Vi loved Judy. This did not make her any less demanding. Here is the wheeze: In Christmas 2004 we published a booklet What Happened?. Judy had sent an email each day to 2 friends who forwarded it to a network of interested parties. I knew that they only got half a story. There were incidents that Judy never knew about. The booklet told 2 parallel tales of the world that everyone else lived in and the one I remembered clearly. It included the episode of the difficulty I had in navigating our helicopter. New readers will be relieved to know that eventually I managed to park it in our garage. There was the additional problem of what to do with the duckling that Ian Walmsley brought for me on the birth of his nephew or niece. News which surprised his sister in law. I don’t think they generally have ducks in hospitals. People were entertained by the tale. The booklet is about to be republished … for real money. The proceeds will go to the hospital for the families of their inmates.
Apparently no one buys booklets any more – they get things online. In that case, we will set up an electronic money maker. All technical support welcome.
The project will get full Radio, TV and Press coverage.
But no one watches Television or reads newspapers any more. So we will have recourse to Social Media. If you read Wonderful Wonderful Schleswig Holstein you will see that this is a wicked thing to get involved in, but why should the Devil have all the best media coverage? (Because he invented it).
One casualty of my declining years is that I will give up one of my allotments. I will scale down. This is a pity. I have had a most satisfactory arrangement with a terrific neighbour who ran the vegetarian Bean There café in Bridlington and who lets me have a vegetarian meal each Friday. The local Vegan shop keeps me provided with a vegan pasty each Wednesday in exchange for other produce. There will not be such a superabundance next year. Unless, of course I can convert the second allotment to No Dig principles. It’s worth a go. You will have to wait and see.
So remember to look forward to 2024 with thanks for all the things that work, and don’t be overwhelmed by the others.
And one more thing … Respect for the elderly is a public holiday in Japan celebrated annually on the 3rd Monday of September to honour elderly citizens. Put it in your diary. Some of you can sit back and wait.
jbrip 