I don’t think I can remember such a dull, grey winter as this. Since our early winter snows over the Christmas period, when we did at least have some cold, crisp, blue sky days, we seem to have had very little other than dank, dull, grey overcast days. Judging by the sodden nature of the ground, many of these days have also produced rain.
I have been somewhat trapped, certainly psychologically, because I haven’t been able to walk any great distance given my recent continence issue courtesy of the operation. So, whilst I might not like the weather we’ve been having, other than the psychological impact of not wanting to be stuck in this climate, it hasn’t actually been that restrictive for me.
For Carol, it’s been a different issue. I made it quite clear that she should not be trapped just because I was restricted but, as healthy as she is, the weather has just not been conducive to cycling, which we both enjoy. Cycling in inclement weather is not enjoyable, in our view. Walking in less than clement weather may be less dangerous than cycling but the weather’s been so dull that it hasn’t exactly enticed her out for walks, either.
Today was no exception; it wasn’t actually raining, unlike yesterday, but it was very dull and dismal. The frustration and lack of exercise was too much and the dam broke. Carol announced that she was going to walk into town, a distance of two miles, run a few errands and wander back. I felt jealous. “Come with me”, she said. Gulp! After a quick internal conflict of wanting to get out and worrying about leaking, I thought I’d try going and see how far I could get, accompanied by my trusty emergency stool/walking stick. I got dressed up.
As luck would have it, as we were leaving so was our neighbour, Paul. Together the three of us sauntered out in the general direction of town. Paul was intending to do a loop through a tree-lined path behind another development, a distance of about a mile or so, which sounded like a reasonable target for my first outing. And so it was – Carol strode off into town and we cut off through the trees. Apart from anything else, Paul’s company was a suitable distraction and acted as moral support taking my mind of any self doubt.
There were times when I didn’t feel exactly “secure” but I got back largely unsullied. I was thinking about things other than taking my trusty Garmin to measure our distance but I think it was a little over a mile (having measure it on Google Earth.
Result!!
Next significant event approaching: first post-operative blood test on Monday (28th Feb) with results expected on the following Friday (4th Mar).
Bravo!!