Repetition should not describe life. Life should have the potential for change. Change is best exemplified when we learn something new but “new” doesn’t always mean “happy”.
I lay on the couch faintly uncomfortable. Why? Because my feet seemed remote. Why? Because I was wearing shoes and didn’t want to risk mucking up the couch. Gradually it dawned.
When I stretch out on the couch my feet are supported on the floor by the heels of my shoes. The heels have comparatively sharp corners. A year ago we replaced the 20-year-old living room carpet because the backing was showing through the pile. But just in one place. You’ve guessed it! Exactly where my heels grind the pile.
What appalled me was the time it took to make the connection. As my heels rested on the new carpet they transmitted a sense of unease but left the reason vague. After several months I saw – in my mind’s eye – those heels doing their mindless destruction. Time to consider slippers indoors.
Some of us do conundrums for fun. VR used to do the Guardian cryptic crosswords but I was hopeless. Yet I can isolate a writer’s intentions in badly composed prose and make corrections.
Finally recognising the way heels threaten carpets made me feel stupid. More ominously that I’m being overtaken by age, a reminder I don’t need. How long would it have taken Isaac Newton...?
I was just thinking this morning how oppressive daily routine is in retirement.
ReplyDeleteColette: I agree. But on the other hand, lacking a routine might we become directionless? I get up fairly early because that's when I write best. Once I would have continued because that is part of the routine; these days - after 100 - 200 words - I sometimes return to bed to doze and then to chat with VR when she wakes. There's a sense of indulgence about this, a relaxation of all obligation.
ReplyDeleteA one piece garment with a zip? What you need is one of Winston Churchill's "siren suits". It would fulfill that purpose perfectly.
ReplyDeleteSee: https://www.amazon.co.uk/slp/mens-jumpsuit/8sbjjedkzker4ut
for choice!
Avus: Nah, he was a toff aping the working man. I'm talking about the complete kit and caboodle with a stiff-necked shirt collar, part of a tie bought from Liberty's, the front of a weskit with watch-chain, and the trouser top slightly splayed from belly pressure behind. A sight to wow them in Tesco.
ReplyDelete