An Itinerant Mind

Sunday, Sunday

I'm signed up for another blogging event, just a short one this time, the last five days of March.

Prompt 1 asks:

What do I do to relax?

Nowadays I play a game called Stardew Valley. It's a low graphics farming game, but with quite a lot to do, which is all the more impressive that it seems to be the work of one man, (who styles himself Concerned Ape incidentally). He even wrote and I think plays the music, several hours worth altogether. The game is demanding enough to keep me happy playing, but doesn't stress me at all. Sundays are not especially restful though, often they are one of our busiest days at the shop. This makes sense as having someone else cook your breakfast on a Sunday sounds a great idea. When I close the shop I put on laundry and head to the shops, then home. About two hours later I go back, put the laundry out to dry, and do several cleaning jobs I can't do during the week because washing pans full of hot oil is an impossibility.

Share a memory of a peaceful, restorative Sunday from your past.

When I was a lot younger Sundays were restful. During the morning I'd read or walk or play. I did a lot of walking even then, wandering down 'The Lane', past the common to the canal bridge, over this was the sewage farm, and beyond that another lane that was very quiet and hardly used. Then there would be Sunday dinner, served on my plate, which for a long time meant one with a picture of an Aberdeen Angus. Usually we would watch a film on the television whilst we ate. Once there was a season of dance films, and I was deeply impressed with Fred Astaire, and I longed to be a tap dancer. Usually after dinner I'd fall asleep with full belly syndrome. There were no shops open, only very occasionally would we go out on a trip, but when we did they often involved steam trains, which my father loved.

What keeps you up at night?

If this means what keeps me from my bed at night, then the answer is 'very little'. My job means early starts, and I'm a poor sleeper anyway, so I have to at least try and sleep when I can. What keeps me awake is worry, worry about money, about things I haven't done, worry about upsetting people, you name it, and I can probably worry about it. When I wake in the small hours, (the ones before I get up), and have to use the toilet, I have a real risk of not being able to get back to sleep. Two or even three hours of trying, and having my mind grind around in circles is tiring. Then I start my day wishing I was ending it. In the evening, when I have settled after work, I often find myself falling asleep in my chair, sometimes whilst trying to play Stardew.