I was startled to find, when publishing the last post, that I had missed a day again. Where do they go? In theory, it should be impossible for me to miss a day. They are 24 hours long and you would think that it would be almost impossible to miss a day by accident. At one time I used to feel uncomfortable if I hadn’t written the blog post for the day, and started to panic in the evening if it wasn’t done. Such is the power of habit. It’s very close to addiction.
Figs at Wilford Mencap Garden
The difference, I suppose , is that I have other things to write. And the problem with that is that some of that writing is about things I need to research. That can be time consuming. This is particularly true when I am using the internet for research and keep hopping from one subject to another via links in the articles.
It 12.36 now. I have breakfasted, taken Julia shopping, chased up my prescription, attempted to write poems and exchanged texts with my cousin, who tells me that her mother has died. As usual, this starts off a spiral of introspection about how I really should do better about keeping in touch. No doubt we will have a conversation later about how we really ought to meet some time without needing someone to die.
Mencap Garden, Wilford
When we were younger we all lived quite close and saw most of our cousins on a regular basis, apart from the two who lived in London. Then others, including us, moved to London, Belfast (which turned out to be a bad move), Johannesburg, Wales and Lincolnshire and we ended up in the situation we are now where I don’t know where they all are, or how many kids they all have. I feel I should do better, but I expect I’m not the only one.
Photos from may 2020.
You are definitely not the only one.
So it seems. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one.
You are not the only one
That is the beauty of WP – I am part of a group of bloggers who are all taking a similar journey and are able to reassure me on the way.
I suggest that on your next trip to Mencap Gardens you take a hammer and a few nails and set the sign right.
The Mencap gardens belong to that category of things “where I went, And cannot come again”. They will have to fix their own sign.
Lavinia is right. So easy for families to scatter. I feel so fortunate that my little family is within driving distance.
Yes, driving distance does help, but even then, it’s no guarantee. I was once out with my Dad walking from my grandmother’s house to my great aunt (they lived about 400 yards apart) when my Dad saw an elderly couple down a side street, greeted them, chatted, introduced me and then carried on. They were one of his many aunts and uncles and we must have passed within twenty yards of their house a hundred times without knocking an saying hello.
My goodness! Not a favorite of your dad’s, I would guess.
He was generally quite sociable, but had many aunt and uncles we never seemed to see. Mum’s family were much closer.
Families can scatter like the wind over time, and the number of descendents grow. All different people with different interests and things consuming their time. I am not sure it is possible for large multigenerational families to all stay in touch.
Yes, it’s tricky. I’m very bad at organising myself and never sure just how much detail people want whenexchanging news at Christmas.