A Moment to Shine... and to Chat

It was raining. Did I really want to walk to the corner of our street just to see someone carrying a flame? Really? Well as you can see from the photographs, I did. It was an historic moment. It will never pass by my street again in my lifetime and I’m really pleased I went.

It wasn’t necessarily the girl and the flame that provided the satisfaction, although they were fun to watch...

It wasn’t the completely empty main road, save for a few police motorcycles, although that was a novel sight... 

It was the people!
   “We should do this more often!” I overheard someone say and, yes I agree. We should! We met up with lots of neighbours who we hadn’t spoken to for months. Mr A even met an old colleague and has planned to go off sailing with him.

You really do have to go out walking to meet and chat. I know that I could walk without a dog but since our lovely Josh died there’s not been the same incentive. Even if I had a cast iron will [which I don’t] it only takes a few spots of rain and I’m either switching the computer back on and kicking off my shoes or reaching for the car keys.

I’m not saying that I never see friends and neighbours but those are organised events. How lovely to just stroll down the road and know that you will meet up with familiar people. That must be what it’s like living in ITV’s Coronation Street and popping in to the Rovers Return. [We don’t have any local pubs round our way, something to do with a covenant on the land.]  

I often wonder how many lonely people there are living behind closed front doors. [Front doors do hold a certain fascination for me. I posted up a poem about them here.] I’m sure that as social animals we were never meant to live in single-residency units and I have a niggling belief that somewhere, during our many centuries of sociological development, we took a wrong turning.

   Is it too late to find a better route?