Just made it to bed by midnight. I’m gonna need to come up with a better way of going about the Halloween Walk tonight. It was the dress rehearsal. My car was parked at the start, at The Old Bull and Bush. But we finish at the King Willy which is miles away. If Lime Bikes or scooters stopped anywhere near the Bull it would be easy, but they don’t and I’m in a cape and hat. I’d feel like a target walking back across the Heath. So my plan was to wait for Jo who usually used to leave the pub before me. But turns out I don’t want to be in the pub at all. Without booze it’s just a choice of sugar and it is all so insipid and unwanted. A lovely lady bought me a ginger beer and it was horrible and I smiled and when Jo left I jumped at the chance.
Jo hasn’t the space for me in her car, just for my clothes. So I left them with her parked outside the Duke of Hamilton and I wandered off into the dark to get to Bergie. Walking north to drive south.
I’m home now and tired and I’ll need to rethink that as I’m gonna do lots of those walks in the next few weeks. It’s fun while it’s happening but it seems without the draw of getting mildly sloshed as we go that it starts to feel more like a job than a jaunt. Let’s face it, in the end I’m doing this to make some money. And a little bit of me longs for what I was doing this time last year. But everything has a season.
A tiny little dress rehearsal audience tonight, just a few people, make it intimate and playful, find my way. I’m making this up so there’s nobody hanging over me but me, but that doesn’t stop me getting judgey. I’m still finding some of the gags, some of the moments. Sometimes it’s down to the other people there and playfulness. Other times it needs to be tidied up.
I’m knackered though. “If I was you I would have found a way to get one of those little microphone and amps,” says John, who was at Guildhall with me. “But I know you, you can always be heard, and you can keep it up forever.” Yep. Poor Lou. But being a foghorn doesn’t come cheap. It’s muscular. And I’m not as young as I used to be.
Early start tomorrow though, something different again. I’m enjoying this autumn and snatching my downtime when I can. I think I’m gonna brush my teeth and take something to shut my head up and set an alarm.
I would normally be half cut by now, so in the end it’s probably for the best I’m not drinking.
AlBarclay 