Friday morning finds me sitting in the middle of a busy cafe - the one my middle daughter works at. She’s not here today - I finally got around to visiting on the one day she doesn’t work. She would have been with me, but instead is waiting at home for a succession of people to arrive at the front door - to be handed all manner of junk we’re getting rid of.
I’ve eaten a sausage roll, and am now nursing the remains of a huge cup of frothy coffee.
As much as it’s nice to escape the four walls at home, there’s one major difference in the cafe - noise. At home I have relative silence - here, I’m surrounded by conversation, laughter, the clattering of plates and cups, the scraping of chairs, and the slamming of doors.
Over in the corner the owner’s dog sits by a table surrounded by toys and a water bowl. She’s a golden labrador and has the sweetest temperament you could imagine - quietly watching customers come and go, wagging, and receiving the occasional fuss. I wonder what she thinks about while watching the world coming and going throughout the day?
I used to be able to block out noise easily. I worked in a busy office for years - some of the staff would marvel at my ability to shut off all external distractions while concentrating on something - not hearing them talking directly to me. I wonder if I’m losing that ability - while working at home alone?
I quietly resurrected the Substack incarnation of this blog a couple of days ago. I’m not sure if it was driven by fear of missing out, or frustration with the design decisions of the Wordpress team. I can’t decide if I’m more annoyed with the design changes, or with change in general. Perhaps this is what “getting older” is - aches, pains, and resisting change.
My leg hurts. My leg still hurts. It’s been a week since I finished the 100km running escapade. While grumbling about it last night my other half cheerfully reminded me that I only had myself to blame, and that only idiots ran anywhere.
P.s. I might have been playing Kylie Minogue on the record player at 8am this morning.