Strandlines

Looking up.

Enjoyed episode 2 of His Dark Materials. Read the trilogy about 10 years ago and I can’t recall all the plot details so it feels quite fresh. I see next weeks’ episode is followed by a new production of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. That’s my Sunday night viewing sorted then. 📺

🏏 Just waking up to catch the end of the 5th T20 between NZ and Eng and they have tied, so would you believe it, we have a super over! Déjà vu…

🏏 A good win for England by 76 runs and now down to the decider.

🏏 Worth waking up early for the Eng v NZ T20. Eng bat first, and clock their highest T20 score of 241, and a lovely century from Malan. This is more like it 😁

The 4th T20 between Eng and NZ starts tomorrow at the more sociable hour of 5am UK time, so I should be awake to listen to the commentary. 🏏

Part of my morning routine is to take our dog out for a short walk. Being an old boy with arthritis and failing eyesight, he likes to take his time, sniffing his way around the route. It’s supposed to be a chance for me to look around, take a moment before heading to work. Often though, preoccupation with the day ahead means my mind is elsewhere. Today was the first sunny morning in a while, and finally the trees are showing some good autumn colour. The light was beautiful. It was a reminder that I really should make the effort to stop, take it all in and enjoy the moment.

🏏 Woke up this morning to discover Eng have lost the 3rd T20 to NZ by 14 runs…

A walk in the woods this morning - autumn colour.

🏏 So, NZ win the second T20 against Eng, well done them. 1-1, and all to play for.

🏏 A good start for Eng on their tour of NZ - and not a Super Over in sight. Missed out on listening to the commentary due to the time difference, but catching up on the details with the Test Match Special podcast.

My first ever flu jab yesterday. Had flu for the first time in years back in February. Lost several days work and felt washed out for weeks. So consider it worth a go.

A wet Saturday afternoon. A good excuse to play The Lord of the Rings card game with my son.

Have been watching Life on Mars, currently available on the BBC iPlayer, and which I somehow missed first time around. Am enjoying the era-specific references, including a View-Master. I had one of these as a kid and had completely forgotten! Kids today don’t know what they are missing… View-Master Model G by The Passenger is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Before using Micro.blog I had a blog on Wordpress.com. In fact, I’ve had more than one - all started with good intentions, but each has run aground. One reason is Wordpress itself. It is so feature rich that it would get in the way of what blogging is about - writing. And I’m not talking about being distracted by features.

I found using both the Wordpress app and website at best slow and clunky, at worst prone to freezing and crashing. Simply getting a post published was a tedious process. And with recent updates (blocks!) the experience only got worse.

And this is where I like Micro.blog. A nigh on frictionless experience. I can write and post, and within seconds my blog is updated.

Walked the dog this morning, just getting light. Grey skies and a cool NE wind. Overhead, the calls of migrant Redwings. Just a handful, the first I’ve seen this autumn.

Making the most of the decent autumn weather. A walk on the Exmoor coast yesterday near Selworthy Beacon.

October sunrise

I am apt to wake far too early - sometimes an hour or more before I need to. During the summer I don’t mind too much but now the mornings are dark it’s not so easy. I am far too prone to start worrying about things, so I am trying out listening to music or meditation audio. It helps - the only thing is by the time I actually have to get up I can be just about ready to nod off again.

A recent podcast series I have enjoyed is The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Based on the H.P. Lovecraft novel of the same name, it is given a modern setting and presented in the style of a true crime podcast, neatly sidestepping Lovecraft’s writing style. Enjoyable hokum.

How do you weigh a live whale? As a non-scientist this is what I admire about scientists - finding ways to answer questions it wouldn’t even occur to me to ask.

October sky

The dry summer has lasted well into September. Funnily, it was early in the month that we used the wood burner on a couple of cooler evenings. The rest have been very mild. All change last week, with gales and plenty of much needed rain.

Yesterday we collected conkers. Have no use for them. Just like to look at them, enjoy the feel of them in the hand.

Leaving for work on Monday morning, a flat tyre. A wheel change, a trip to the tyre shop, half the morning gone, original plans scuppered, how best to use the rest of the day. Usually this leaves me feeling frustrated, stressed, guilty even. Not quite in control and my day wasted.

As it was I was able to catch up on some outstanding tasks; email clients, planning, that sort of thing. Which, of course, restored a little control. Salvaged the day.

I’m not good at letting go, adapting. I tend to hold on tighter. But maybe after forty-odd years, I am learning.