Perfect

 

17 days into the New Year and shall I make any resolutions?

We had snow and we had storms and we had rain. So this morning's weather was pretty good in comparison. The best thing to do when the weather is fine according to my trusty brain is to get out and see green.

Green as in fields that are so green they never disappoint. The best view of course is from the passenger seat, with the faithful gentleman love-of-my-life on the wheel, and my favourite songs in the background. Miles and Miles of green. Feeling very safe and loved.

My thoughts drifted.

Dreaming of dragons and kings just like Neil Diamond did in Brooklyn Road, every time I passed an abandoned castle, I wondered….

Did they dance in the grand hall with a blazing fire and dined on pheasants brought in from the wild by the gamekeeper? How did the ladies in their long dresses negotiate the very narrow winding staircase? The pomp and the gains. Perhaps they thought that would be eternal, but now is only in ruins.

I looked into popular cafes. Where people entered to be seen rather than to eat. I can’t help agreeing with Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:14. ‘ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun and behold all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.’ And yet we do that over and over again. Every generation. Any age group. Many wants. They are all too tempting.

Looking at the road signs and shop names in English – my brain went into auto mode and was busy translating them into the little Irish that I have learnt. Once a student, always a student. My kind of fun.

We were on the way to an open market that only happens once a week only to find that we had got the day wrong and there wasn't a stall to be seen. What next? Like the ITV Lingo host Adil Ray who always says 'Never mind’ we paused and told ourselves, never mind. No disappointment, only opportunity. So we went to search for a megalithic wedge tomb instead. It helps to have a wide spectrum of interests. Archaeology being one.

I hear that the alligator can live to 100 years.

I think I could live for a 100 years and more.

Just like the alligator. Sometimes snappy. Most times happy.

Enjoying the people I am with. Loving my surroundings. Loving me.

17 days into the New Year and shall I make any resolutions?

No I won't.

Pure content.

Perfect.

PLUS ONE DAYS

Some television stations have Plus One programmes which gives you another chance to watch your favourite shows an hour later. This does mean that there are people who are happy to not miss a tv show.

Now, here we go again with another 3 weeks of Level 3 restrictions throughout Ireland. A change to what shops or services can remain open, how many people you can meet at one time and how far you can travel amongst other things. Restricted movements never go down well with anyone, especially if the changes are rather sudden.

Like many others caught in the same predicament, we also had a taste of it. Nothing drastic or life threatening, just some inconvenience.

We had a holiday planned out and so we had to cancel everything. Quite a bit of a last minute cancellation but the hotel administrative staff was pretty kind and understood that the fault was neither ours nor theirs. So it was penalty free.

So what has that got to do with Plus One tv programmes?

I thought there is some similarity there. 

You know, with an active mind, you can almost draw similarities between totally diverse situations and yet everything adds up in the big picture. Michael would say, that I would start off with something at the beginning of a story, which then meander to another and then at the end everything comes together. You just don't know how it spins.

Plus One Days.

This is my new coinage. Simply put, the days that you are meant to be somewhere else, but you get to spend them at home instead.

What does that mean to me?

For a person who is mentally and socially active, it means that I get to spend such days without any plans made. No  appointments, no visits, no gatherings, no duties. 

So I get to spend extra days simply doing what I like on the spur of the moment because I haven't committed myself to doing something planned.

Plus One Days.

Sleep. Yes, extra hours on the bed hugging my pillows. (I have many - different shapes and sizes) Who wants to draw the curtains to let the sunshine in? Who wants to crawl out of the comforter with the hot water bottle next to you? Who wants to get out of comfy, snuggly fleece-lined jammies?

Plus One Days

Music. Yes, listening to On My Way by Alan Walker, Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko. The song, the voice, the video, the lyrics!!

So take aim and fire away...I've never been so wide awake...The blood moon is on the rise, The fire burning in my eyes....And I'm on my way

Reminds me of the shower scene in Flash dance so many years ago. Where Alex Owens (Jennifer Beals) was a welder who wanted to become a dancer, but she represented anyone with a dream.

 I can be 16, I can be 90, but the spirit is still the same. Freedom, emancipation, unfettered, unleashed. No boundaries. To be Myself.

Plus One Days

Write and Read. Exactly. Write my blog. Write my letters. Write my cards. And read. Yes, read that magazine, read that book, read that letter....again.

Plus One Days

Appreciate. Count the moments. The moments I have lived, through pain and joy. The moments that seem to be forever. The moments that are fleeting. The moments when I am surrounded by the people I love. The moments when I am surrounded by myself, me, mine. I am very comfortable in my own skin. I see the ME in the colours, the sounds, the heat, the cold. I feel the damp of the fallen leaves, brown and almost brittle. 

Plus One Days.

The joy of NOW.