March 1st, 2018

Beast from the east?

A good ol’ cool brisk walk home from Handforth railway station, as the last natural light of the day begins to finally fade out. I find new and previously uncharted housebound shortcuts that would probably be better described as tall cuts.

Breathing in the cool clean air tastes almost infinitely less stale than the putrid late afternoon gases I am used to inhaling, filtering with my tarred lungs, and exhaling.

Has it got anything to do with the lack of poisonous traffic on the now slightly icy roads?

All the potholes that I use as markers, whilst daydream shuffling, have disappeared. I feel slightly lost but smugly confident that the white matted tree branches will lead me in the right direction with little fuss.

My mind wanders and wonderfully private thoughts flow until suddenly I become aware that the sky is black, just as the artificial glow of street lamps expose the freshly laid footprints of my wife-to-be that leads me to the front door of home.

At last, I am reunited with my best barking friend — Jack, his unique stump of a tail wagging, as he jumps at me with excitement and relief that his pack is back to full strength. And the warmth becomes almost overwhelming to my senses as another wonderfully private evening begins.

I really love proper old-fashioned English winter weather.

There is hope in my heart that this cool weather will continue for a good while yet but not quite forever.