~o~
Wednesday 10th 33F/+0.6C. Still lots of snow lying. Up at 7.30.
8.30 59F/15C in the room. I ought to light the stove.
Is there enough reward for the increasing expense? For the improved language skills and close human contact. Am I benefitting from the close company in staving off the constant depression? I might become a hermit! This is actually a serious comment. Having appointments ensures I maintain my appearance, shower and launder my clothes.
The complex meals we produce and consume are almost irrelevant. The cooking education of doubtful value. I still haven't found much to carry over to my rather monotonous diet at home. My skills with a potato peeler are increasingly polished but I don't enjoy potatoes very often.
Then there is the travelling time and expenses. Good fun on a warm, dry day on the e-bike. Riding on the gorgeous rural lanes and being blinded by the early sun. Much less fun when it is peeing down and I am driving the car in commuter traffic on the main roads. I find myself increasingly irritated by having to attend on the alternate weeks. It feels as if I am denying myself some basic freedom. Particularly when the weather is good enough for a proper bike ride.
Initially, there was a very good case for re-socialising after years of rural isolation. The loss of my wife left me even further isolated. My social circle barely extended beyond thanking the cashier at the supermarket checkout! Research suggests that isolation accelerates dementia. The mental gymnastics in maintaining conversations helps to keep the brain alive and functioning. Particularly in a foreign language.
Are there alternatives to cooking classes for basic socialising? I still have the museum. Though that isn't so intensely communicative. Often involving lengthy periods doing some humble task while working alone. I don't see myself being a volunteer at a local charity shop. It doesn't appeal. It was suggested I could drive a van for a charity shop. I had plenty of experience of van driving in my youth but not for decades. Could I manage the delivery of heavy furniture or picking it up?
9.20. Dark grey but dry. Time for a walk?
10.00 Back from a short loop around the drives. Getting away from the speeding traffic saves me having to take to the snow covered verges so often. It was much more slippery than yesterday. I presume the higher temperatures have produced a slight surface melt. Reducing friction dramatically. I disturbed a heron fishing in the beck. It flew in a circle but I lost it behind trees towards the end. Hopefully it found its fishing spot again. The beck was the only water not frozen solid.
I brought back the wheely bin with waste food and real rubbish. Since there was plenty of room left for more until the next emptying. The recycling system has greatly reduced the volume of these two types of refuse. The problem lies with the plastic waste and milk carton bin. Which is now almost full. Do I want to drive to the recycling yard with several sacks of the contents?
I seriously doubt they'd accept my arrival with the wheely bin lying in the trailer. Though it might be fun just to make a real nuisance of myself! I wonder how many of my neighbours missed having their bins emptied due to icy drives? They have steep hills to cope with. While mine is flat along the main drive. I didn't have the nerve to lift the lids! My reputation for eccentricity already precedes me.
10.40 66F/19C in the room. Motivation at zero %. Another day of passive YouTube viewing? Does it count if I educate myself with science videos?
12.30 I have collected the plastics recycling bin from the main drive. The contents filled a standard, translucent, bin bag. I'll bung the bag in the boot. Then take it to the recycling yard on my next shopping trip.
It seems a number of others are daunted by the up front cost of cooking lessons. Three members have dropped out so far. Which probably means this year's, spring/summer, Tuesday series is cancelled. It is obvious that it needs a minimum number of people to make it work. The lessons take place at a disused, village school. I believe the rental charge per kitchen session has increased. So now the owners of the school get nothing. If the education authority still owns the building. Then they are undervaluing the long term health benefits of the attendees.
The rules don't seem to take that into account. Nobody is checking whether the thatch is badly holed and the house is full of rats. Or if the garden is full of weeds, towering trees and scrap cars. Owning a property, even in absentia, means beneficial loans can be taken out against its official value. Rich people are property owners. The rich make the rules for everybody.
Dinner was cheese on toast with fresh tomatoes. Followed by an apple for desert.
~o~
No comments:
Post a Comment