Swan at National Arboretum

I just did a count, and found that as of yesterday I had written 174 posts this year. Unfortunately, as yesterday was day 181 of 2026, this means i was seven posts behind on my target. This was very annoying as, until four weeks ago, I was on target.

My first thought was that I should write like crazy and get the seven made up so I could sign off with an average one a day, as I had said. But it would take me at least two days, which would effectively still leave me short of the target and mean I had to write for at least another day, and leave my target at one a day, but for six months and three days.

Whooper Swans on farmland near Frampton Marsh. Note the straight necks and yellow/black bills.

On the other hand, tomorrow will be day 183 of the year, and thus halfway through. I could, at the risk of looking like some sort of single-minded maniac, write nine posts in two days and achieve a nice neat record of one post a day for the first half of the year. It is an elegant and balanced solution, albeit from a man who is looking steadily less well-balanced as this post goes on.

This is a worry, not because I failed in my self-selected target, or even because I can’t do a simple thing like writing 250 words a day, but because I can’t accept it and have to manufacture a tidy end.

This is a bit too much like my Dad, who started to constrain his days and his trips out with the need to fit in with self-induced set mealtimes.

For now, this will do, but I will be back later with more posts. Or a reflection on mania. I am not sure which.

Mute Swan, Lapwings and Black Headed Gull