Gliding to the background of a blue sky
Daily Archives: 22/11/2018
FOTD 22.11.2018: Kalanchoe
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Public transportation (no private cars or trucks)
A train meeting at the local station
Safety demonstration by takeoff on a plane
My No. 2 son leaving an english bus on a publicity day in Switzerland
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Public transportation (no private cars or trucks)
FOWC with Fandango: Fluid
At our local trade fair, we had a bubble man
He produced his bubbles as large as you can
Perhaps he lived in a bubble
He might have been a druid
The main thing about it all, it remained very fluid
RDP Thursday: Grateful
i suppose I am grateful to have this view when I look towards the north. This is probably all about thanksgiving, but I have never had to celebrate a thanksgiving. Great Britain was not a colony, we were invaded by everything from the Romans through the Normans and even a little bit of Viking. We are still being invaded from people from our various colonies. Perhaps they are grateful to be there. I left the country to invade another.
I can say that where I am today is because I took it all in my own hands. I wanted something more than just living in London and so I looked for it and found it in another country. To be quite honest, the country is not the important thing, just somewhere else. My country became Switzerland because I had the opportunity to work there. I left my family and travelled and I stayed. Mum gave me a couple of months at the most, and the couple of months became 50 years with a Swiss husband and Swiss kids and even Swiss citizenship.
Am I grateful? No, because no-one gave it to me, I had to work on it, to build up a new life and the Swiss nation did not actually say “welcome, make yourself at home, we will look after you”. I worked and learned the language and the way of life, because I wanted to. Forget the turkeys here. You can buy them in the supermarket and they are not cheap: born to be killed and eaten. I do not think the turkeys are very grateful for that one.
It was not all smooth running, but life isn’t smooth running. At the age of 20 you have your life in front of you, and today, 50 years later, the life has arrived. Old age plays its tricks, but you have to come to terms with them. My fate was MS, but not the end. I adapt. When I got my wheelchair the doc was surprised that I did such a thing. They like you to do it step by step and not so drastic perhaps. Today I say it was the best thing I ever did. I had some money saved and I used it for my new “toy”. I can walk (hobble) and move around at home, but distances have become difficult. With my wheelchair I can go places and see things. I think here I am grateful to other people that meet me with consideration. I am often asked if they can help. I am not grateful to our local road builders who constructed a new road in our village and made the steps so high that I get vibrations through my body when I cross the road.
I am not ungrateful, but to be quite frank, I do not have the time to be grateful. I am always planning the next move.
Good Morning
It does not get more misty than it was today. When I raised the blinds I saw only the outlines of the trees, so it can only get better I hope. It actually looks like the sun might even be peeping through later, although there are chilly temperatures out there. Needless to say I did not go anywhere yesterday except for my shopping trip and that was the usual. My life seems to be a slow motion thing at the moment. I can move OK, but am worried about making a false step somewhere. My supermarket trolley is now my anchor, but it works.
The advantage of walking around the store on my own is that I can do my own thing. Much of the bread is made on the premises in a show baking area where you can see them doing the work, so I shot a photo. It is all very well done and afterwards the finished loaves are baked in the oven and come fresh into the shop.
As I look out of the kitchen window I see that the sparrows are already waiting in the trees. I cut up my bread remainders this morning and they are now arriving to see if thre are any pickings. At the moment I only see sparrows. The crows have not yet arrived.
On my last walk a couple of days ago in the village I noticed the horses were all there wrapped in their warm covers.
I was not really planning on a trip anywhere today, but a journey into town will break the monotony. There are now very few shoppers around. The town used to be teeming with people shopping, but it seems that shopping is no longer what it used to be. I noticed our town is now full of service shops like hairdressers and restaurants. There are two large supermarkets, but the smaller food shops no longer exist. We have one butchers shop in the whole town and there used to be four or five of them. It seems to be full of souvenir shops and a few jewellers. Even Christmas shopping is no longer, everything being bought online. I do not mind and avoid crowds where I can. I have never entered a shop with my wheelchair up to now.
Mr. Swiss has decided not to go into town this morning. I have all the food I need for today at home and need nothing more.
I noticed that the days really repeat themselves, but we golden oldies are no longer as adventurous as we were. I remember the time when we would decide to make a trip to perhaps Bern, our capital city, even Zürich, but they are now gone.
We have no longing to walk the streets and go shopping. I think it must be at least 10 years since I visited another town in Switzerland. I think I am becoming a sort of golden oldie hermit. What would I do without a computer, it keeps me in touch.
And now to move on, for the usual routine.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 