Familiarity is making these workshops easier, and today flew by in the sun. It started well too, with a short chant with my friend who was staying. Damn its good to have somebody stay. I remember when there was always somebody on the sofa and somebody else in the spare room. These years have not been convivial.
The work was in Twickenham alongside a salt of the earth from Huddersfield – he’s an engineer and not reliably engaging if given his rein – “they’re 600 metres wide and 100 metres long with a surface area of… …” but reliably amusing when he tries to be. He’s a dad. Very much a dad. He has his dad jokes. He’s cute. We truck along nicely together and it passed the time over a long wait between our two sessions today. The best part of working in schools is that it finishes so early. After a brief visit to the post office to send the huge parcels of feedback to the office – unchecked – I was sitting in a garden in the spring sunshine by 4pm. Helpful that the school was only ten minutes from Tristan and Tanya’s. We had a cup of tea before deciding that a pint of Guinness would be more topical for St Patrick’s Day. Early evening pint and a good old springtime actor’s rant, and then we joined Tanya for a dog -walk. Their neighbor has tested positive for Covid and doesn’t want to leave the house so we all took her delightful pudding of a mongrel on a wander around the lawns and riverside pathways of Twickenham. I can really taste the beginning of spring now. Considering I’ve been in the desert, it’s surprising how much I’m hankering for sun. The red sand has blown over again, and hopefully brought with it the desert heat for a spot.
The dog was fun. Terribly badly trained. I think if I were to ever get a dog I’d invest in a trainer at the start and then try and stick to it. There’s something satisfying about a dog that tries to get good at things. This was was delightful but just totally indolent. Nevertheless we had a good old wander and looked at a few balls.
Back home now, winding down, looking forward to a day without early start tomorrow. I’m probably up later than I should be as a result. I’m gonna try to wind out with a cup of chamomile. I’ll probably put some whisky in it…
AlBarclay 