Sunday, 12/26/2021
Today is Boxing Day in England. Probably, some or another pagan rite from long ago. The English do not care as it is another holiday of celebration and on top of that, the English Premier League football games are in full swing on this day. So, it is not only a day off but one with entertainment either live or on the television. Another excuse to watch the games along with your mates at your local brew house accompanied by one or many pints of ale depending on whether your team wins or loses. In either case, it is just an excuse to drink. The camaraderie on such occasions is amazing and it matters not which team you support as the real focus is on the game and being with your mates. Alas, I gave up drinking beer years ago and now settle for an occasional glass of wine, well ok, a bit more than occasional, say every evening and must cheer on the teams by myself. The dogs are not much help as they cannot make up their minds which are their favorite teams, and they are usually sleeping anyway.
We went out for our morning short walk around the park meeting a few others doing the same. We exchanged Merry Christmas Greeting even a day late as it is the season of “Hail fellow, well met.” at least for a couple more days. After that, who knows? Although to be truthful, I have not come across anyone that worried me in any of the Parks I have stayed at. Most are friendly and well-meaning, and you quickly learn to stay away from the surly ones. Incidentally, for the first time in my life, I have noticed just how big, and I mean big, some of these other gentlemen are. When I am out in HEB or the other stores and look at some of the men, they are enormous and I do not mean fat, well not all of them. Some carry extra weight but others are just huge men, well over 6ft and two hundred plus pounds of muscle. This is not just the odd one or two but many of them are this way. Is our society developing to larger people, I wonder? On the other hand, there an awful lot of fat people around, many of them women who have just let themselves go to pot, quite literally. I have always bemoaned the fact that at my prime, I was 5’8” and now, through the ravages of time and round shoulders, am lucky if I measure 5’6”. That plus losing my hair which was always good for another inch. .A few more inches and I know I would have been a professional English football player; I was that good but too small as I played in goal. And although my field skills were also exceptional, not good enough to reach the lofty heights of a professional player, I am afraid.
With the website still down, I continued to write in Word as it will be a simple copy and paste when the time comes to put this into the blog. Luckily, I am posted out several days ahead so have a bit of time. Today is a dull and cloudy day with signs of drizzle in the air and we have yet to see the sun. Amazing how a sunny day can cheer us up. As I write this, there are 5 more days to this year 2021. Looking back, it has all been very strange and somewhat surreal with Covid haunting us at every turn along the way with the drama that it has brought, turning people against people even within families. Living this nomadic life and not really mixing with others has made it easier for me. My only close contact is when I go to the store or to a couple of Doctor’s appointments and then I wear a mask which I dislike as it fogs up my glasses. Small price to pay for peace of mind. I have had all three of my shots and cannot do much more except to be careful. It is a strange world that we live in. I really don’t understand the animosity that Covid and shots has produced.
We went out for the final walk of the day choosing the road outside that gives us longer distance. Not that I was feeling extra energetic or anything crazy bur after sitting around all day and the dogs needing the exercise, it seemed like a promising idea. We were not alone on this walk as we passed three other people whose dogs were taking them walking all of whom we have met along the way before. Both Sandy and Mikey were not on their best behavior as we passed, barking and jumping and pulling on the leash and it took a couple of sharp commands from me to bring them back in line. Guess they were just doing their doggy thing even though they had met all the other dogs before. Arriving back at Miss Daisy, we sat outside for a while and watched the activity around us. People visiting other people while others were cooking outside and yet another off to the laundry room. Quite the hub of activity for a while. My old neighbors from Site 3, Ayumi and Keith, stopped by to visit and we chatted for a bit as we caught up on the past few months before they moved on. We eventually went back inside as it began to cool off to have the evening meal and, in my case, watch the Premier League.
Written 12/26/2021 – Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
I knew that you were a good soccer player but didn’t realize you were so close to being able to play pro ball. What a difference a few inches can make.
Yes, and unfortunately I remained short all of my life and now, even shorter…