more being

... the end of February and a beautiful sunny day in the Dale ... an early walk over the tops, much calmer than the previous two excursions in the tail end of storm Doris, feeling the force of the wind ... helpful uphill from behind, harder sideways on along the edge ... musing on the anthropomorphism of the meteorologists and the absurd hyperbole of certain newspapers, specialising in doom and gloom stories, designed to keep us indoors, in fear of the weather ... and when the weather is benign, there are always dangerous foreigners out there to scare us...

The Editor writes, wondering where the blog has gone ... admonishing the blogger for neglecting the readers ... the perils of taking the writer role too seriously, readers placing expectations on writers ... hmm ... maybe a little encouragement helps when the muse is resting ...

A trip up the Dale to visit friend and erstwhile colleague in service design ... having retired from the very successful Cafe, after a series of strokes, each time recovering functions thanks to a flexible brain, capable of adapting and rewiring ... though since October another, unexplained, phenomenon shut him down ... speechless and in a dark and constricted space, where the very concept of self disappeared ... only to reappear just as suddenly quite recently ... the old self reappearing and growing through validation on Facebook and the "Likes" and "Comments" of hundreds of well-wishers ... a fascinating conversation and maybe one he will expand upon in comments on here ...

Meanwhile, the neglected writer role has been replaced by social entrepreneur role, validated by local folks encouraging the efforts to re-open the Residential Home ... though any of them might have initiated it ... local retired journalist and blog reader questions the authority of picking up the role as catalyst in the project ... also a mystery here, though no more so than finding the wonderful book by French writer on graceful ageing, Marie de Hennezel and "The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body from Rusting" in a charity shop in Durham yesterday.

The parallel project takes some form with a meeting arranged with Gary, A Place to Be co-founder and author of  recently published "Living Mindfully: Discovering Authenticity through Mindfulness Coaching" as well as a warm re-connection with Cheryl, yoga teacher and partner of Naturopath Charlie, who you may have seen on here on the first of December last year ...

Daily life entails learning to live with a cat ... she comes with the house ... and we spend time trying to train each other to comply with our requirements .... not walking on kitchen work surfaces, finishing food before demanding more, keeping off the bed on one side ... food on demand, attention at any time of day or night, access to all areas, on the other .... gradually a compromise evolves ... this one is called Tarot ... quieter than Poppy from the Spanish villa sitting, and mercifully shits and pisses outside ... mostly in the garden of no. 7 when it was dug over ... and at no.7, the landlord, having replaced the roof to deal with the damp, is installing a wood burning stove ... Tommy at no.6, now 93 years old is slowing down, the lovely Sandra at no 5 is the perfect next-door neighbour, always sharing ... including the wifi, strong enough to pass through the stone walls ...++

Back in San Enrique, the crumbling villa and ancient cat are looking for another caretaker from August ... and no.7 Wear Terrace is looking for a new tenant ... once the work is completed in a week or two ...

The Editor enquires about future walks ... which are in mind, though the only firm arrangement is a week in beautiful Brockwood in July ...