Simply A Moment: And all without a safety hat

Hello.

One of my favourite things to do is go for a wander around my own head. Which is just as well really, as I do it rather a lot.

What I don't do often enough is make a note of those journeys ... and I really should, because, when I've done so in the past, I've enjoyed looking back on my meandering thoughts. It's just like leafing back through an old photo album where there aren't any pictures ... except the ones inside my head.

All of which goes to explain why I'm joining in once again with the 'Simply A Moment' meme created by the ever-eloquent and inspiring Alexa in which she encourages us to, once a month, record in detail, a moment which could otherwise have passed by without comment.

You can read these tips from Alexa on how to record your own moments and view her most recent Simply A Moment post here.

And you can read mine just here ...

And All Without a Safety Hat

Date: Friday 15th February 2013
Time: around 10:15am
Location: walking to the Post Office from home
 
I'm not wearing a hat!

I'm not wearing a hat, and yet it's not cold. When was the last time that happened? And the sun's out!

Hello sunshine.

What I am wearing is my old boots. The stretchy fabric at the back is all crumbling away but they're still comfy, especially on my heels which need supporting when I walk fast.

And I will be walking fast.

I can't help it. There's no easy explanation why. There's several. Mixed together. Like aspiring to be more fit for one, but there are others ...

I walk up the drive and on to the street remembering the days [a long time ago now] when leaving the house was hard. Impossible in fact. And as for walking to the shops alone ... well ... that took some training. Quite some building-up-to.

One step at a time.

A dog, that I can't see, barks from the [hopefully, please let it be so] safe distance of a garden somewhere on the estate.

And, with that noise, carried on the still air of this bright morning, we can welcome-in another reason for my speedy walk: fear of dogs. Or the possibility of meeting one. Or, as I'd prefer, of avoiding meeting one.

[At the same time we can welcome-in a shot of adrenaline courtesy of my autonomic fight-or-flight responses. And I walk a little faster.]

Fortunately there are other sounds on the air. Like birdsong and the squeaky chatter of starlings makes me smile.

The snow and ice of recent weeks has cleared but left its mark. There are flakes of red brick on the pavements where garden walls have been nibbled by frost and loose patches of gravel where the road surfaces have crumbled.

It's as if a glacier passed through this 1960s housing estate and tore up the landscape on the way.

Quickly through the alleyway now. That [ironic] dog-leg bend in the middle means I never know if the exit is free. Fortunately it is [it usually is, I've never yet been trapped in an alley by a dog! But my phobia always reminds me that past performance is no indicator of future dog-free alleys. Or something like that anyway.]

The sound of a blackbird flitting between garden fences. Repetitive and evocative and I think: I've known that sound all my life.

Two seagulls cut in front of me in a low, sweeping, diagonal drawing a backslash across my path. And my thoughts.

Onwards, around the bend and up the last section of rising gradient before reaching the shops. I'm warm and fairly breathless, but I don't slow-up, or down, until I'm there.

Where a queue forces me to stand still.

Ahead of me a little boy in a pushchair sings the line: "this little finger on my right" from 'One, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive'.

And, like the blackbird I heard on the way ... he repeats the same line again and again.

And again, I'm smiling at the sound of an unexpected song.

It's funny what you hear ... when you're not wearing your hat.

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Don't forget to visit Alexa for links to more 'Simply A Moment' posts.

I'll be back soon.

Julie x