It did underline how important travel is to our lives and how much we are missing it. A couple I know whom I met on yesterday's Steward Stroll (just over four miles) were bemoaning the fact that they should be sunning themselves at the moment on a winter holiday which of course has been cancelled. They described in great detail sitting by the pool in the sun with a large drink by their side. Not sure whether that lifted or dampened the spirits (sorry about the pun there).
This week last year we were in the Cotswolds and next week we should have been going for a few days in Kent followed by a week in France. Those are now off.
Anne asked me yesterday where I would like to go when all this is over and I said Bristol. Not sure why, but people have said it's an interesting and historic place to visit and it's one of the few English cities we haven't been to. As usual my brain introduced a musical link and I started singing "Clifton in the Rain" by Al Stewart.
The rain came down like beads
Bouncing on the noses of the
People from the train
A flock of salty ears
Sparkled in the traffic lights
Feet squelched soggy leaves across the grain
I took my love to Clifton in the rain
So I need to go to Clifton close to Bristol - but preferably in the sunshine and not in the rain.
On my wander round Hethersett, another Al Stewart song got stuck in my head - "Time Passages" with the lines:
Well I'm not the kind to live in the past
The years run too short and the days too fast
The things you lean on, are the things that don't last
Well it's just now and then, my line gets cast
Into these time passages
Those lines seemed very apt.
Mind you the music coming out of my headphones on yesterday's walk was a very mixed bag. Where else would you get Don Mclean mixed with Cliff Richard and Tommy Edwards (who) alongside Frank Zappa, Emerson Lake and Palmer and the Doors?
But the playlist was from my 10,000 favourite all time tunes which currently stands at around 2,000 and which is being added to all the time. So some of the tracks played included:
Frank Zappa (Peaches and Regalia)
Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Lucky Man and Fanfare for the Common Man)
Cliff Richard (The Day I Met Marie)
Tommy Edwards (All In The Game)
Don Mclean (American Pie)
The Doors (The End)
Al Stewart (Time Passages)
Deep Purple (Child in Time)
A Well Respected Man (The Kinks)
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It's strange how as you go through life you re-assess things. Things you did as a young person you wouldn't contemplate even considering in later life.
So I recently had a long conversation with a friend I was at journalism college with. Those were the days when one of our lecturers referred to all the males as "operators" and "thrusting bucks" although personally I didn't do a lot of thrusting either then or now!
"How are you spending your days in lockdown?" I asked my friend.
And it was a mix of reading newspapers, going for walks, drinking tea etc etc. Pretty much what many of us are now doing, but not how we saw our lives panning out 50 years ago when we all set out to change the world!
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I came across some very wintry photos of Hethersett from February, 2013, and have included a few with this blog. Hope you enjoy them.
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Just for fun I would like to set a very tough question. You will need to be eagle-eyed to answer this one and my guess is nobody will get it. The answer could be anywhere either in the village centre or anywhere else in the parish. The question is:
Where in Hethersett could you find the name Peter Savage? Over to you.
P.S - I posted that question on Facebook and was really surprised to get some correct answers very quickly. For those still pondering, I will give you the answer tomorrow.