It's never too late - In the name of Thiago - Day 106
I had a chat with an
old mate this morning. Good old Smudger. Smudger was an accomplished opening
batsman in his time, which is some time ago now admittedly, and someone that I
spent my summer weekends with for a good 15 years spanning from the early 90s
to when I called time on my own playing days in the mid 2000s, when I moved to
Staffordshire just after Angelica and I had got married.
I kept ties with
Smudger and his wife Jane for a few years after we moved up north and we even used
to stay at theirs on visits down to Eastbourne too. For whatever reason, we
drifted apart and I reckon it’s been about seven years since we were last in touch.
I told him about the
big walk in the autumn and I’m hoping that I’ve done enough to get him along. I
haven’t told him that the first stage is one of the longest walks at 17 miles.
Let’s see how this progresses!
Angelica and I managed
to talk Elisa into coming out with us today and I’m glad to report that her no photos policy only seems to apply to me taking them. She doesn’t seem to
have twigged yet that her mum will just What’sApp them to me a little later on
in the day. Until then, I won’t struggle so much to fill the blog with photos!
It’s always the same
with trying to get our little madam to accompany us out on a gorgeous spring
day. There has to be a long convoluted will she won’t she battle. It ends up
being a test of our collective willpower to get her out the door and often we
just leave her at home as Angelica and I need our time as well.
We are lucky to have
some beautiful woodlands right on our doorstep and the ridiculous irony of
where we find ourselves today is that though we live further away from this area
than our old house, we are spending so much more time there now due to the
restrictions we are all living with. Now really is the time to discover what’s
on your own doorstep – we’ve got no choice.
Elisa led the way
today, which normally meets with some interesting results. Paths are clearly
just for parents, as Elisa doesn’t much care for such formalities. There’s a beautiful
dip in the woods, like a mini canyon, which through a child’s eyes creates a
whole new world of possibilities. Seeing her eyes light up as she showed us her
assault course, dens and general craziness really made my day. Elisa’s smile
lights up a room and she’s gorgeous with it. I see many troubled times for me ahead.
On the way out the
woods we decided, sorry Elisa decided, we should also build a den. Here’s our
effort. As you can well imagine after an initial effort bordering on tokenism,
Elisa’s role was squatting in the primitive living space while barking out orders
to Angelica and I. We had fun and it was great for the three of us to get out in
the fresh air as Angelica is back on shift tomorrow and I will be working from
home. The frustration, sadly is never far away, though I am trying to switch my
mentality from ‘stuck’ at home to ‘safe’ at home. It’s a test, that’s for sure.
I’ll end with my usual
plea folks. I am nearly two thirds of my way to my £10,000 fundraising target
but I still need your help to get there. Be a sport, click on the link and give
what you can.
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