2008 — 21 December: Sunday
Soon be time for sleep, then time for another walk, and it's definitely time for another picture of Christa. This one is another blast from a Christmas Past, from 1977:
Christa in Old Windsor, Xmas 1977
G'night. "The Stickup", by the way, turned out to be good enough for me to order a DVD copy before I'd even finished watching my recording. Excellent little movie. But now, at 01:12, it really is time for some sleep.
Unbrightly unshines...
... the not very new-looking day. No hint of sun, plenty of cloud, not actually raining. Today's walking plan incorporates ham sandwiches at "The Newport" so that's one less item to prepare. It's 09:15 and distinctly dull...
Right! 10:02 or thereabouts. Now, where did I leave that car?
He's back...
... at 15:20 or so, cuppa brewing and hot bath being eagerly anticipated. We did a tad under eight miles, but cheated at the halfway point by stopping for food and a pint of "HSB" — very nice too, thanks Mike. As this is just about the shortest day, I guess things can only get better. Tonight I'm over in Winchester for a large screen showing of Across the Universe preceded by the ingestion of part of a roast dead chicken. Yum.
Right, where's that bath? (Pause.) My, that's better!
Now this is one weird story. And this is no better. What strange people people are!
But people who know me tend to be very kind in how they treat me and in what they write to me. Here's the end of my reply to one such note today. It is, after all, nearly the end of the year and (perhaps) an appropriate time for some gentle reflection and (I nearly wrote "spiritual"!) stock-taking:
I observe that bereavement is very hard work, and rather horrible (Christa would have described that as my typical English understatement) though (sadly) death is entirely natural. This past 13 months has been a hard slog through, frankly, a form of hell but I'm slowly getting there — wherever "there" is. At least she's not in any pain or suffering in any way, and at least I've saved her the horrors of bereavement.
For that, at least, I am truly grateful. Right! Nearly time to get my glad rags on and set off again. It's all "go" you know, this new life of mine.
It's 18:25 and time I wasn't here. I haven't read this (a PDF file) all that carefully, but Robert Peston seems to make a lot of sense. Back later, I hope!