Monday 14 June 2021

Reverie

 Reverie is a state I spend a lot of time in these days - now I have a carer who also brings me meals and cleans for me there is little else for me to do.   I have a long (for me) walk each day and then potter.   Yesterday I got to thinking about 'time'.

It is forty-five years this September since my son left home to go to University in Manchester to read Music.  Forty-five years - he now has children and one grandchild and another on the way.   Where has the time gone and how can he possibly be sixty three when his childhood seems like yesterday?

It is sixty nine years since my first marriage - a very happy one which lasted thirty nine years and after two and a half years of widowhood I married my farmer and it is now four years since he died - and it seems like yesterday.   Where has time gone?

It no longer seems possible that so much time has elapsed.   And I certainly don't wish I was young and just starting out on life now - but I expect that is how every generation feels.

What has prompted me to write along these lines?   Well each day during schol term time a bus which takes Primary School children from outlying areas to the Primary School parks down a road just opposite my sitting room window.   As I set out this morning on my walk round the driver got out and I stopped to speak to him for the first time.   At 84 he is still driving and has no intention of retiring.   He insisted on doing the whole of my walk with me, going the long way round to his own house.   The company was very nice and we both enjoyed the chat (he too lives alone).   And we got talking about time and what a strange concept it was.

Somehow I think the older one gets the more one thinks about 'the old days';  not a day goes past when I don't think of some incident in my childhood, my school days, my childhood friends, escapades,  they all seem to float to the surface of my thinking.

Changing topics completely - my landline is out of order and BT are coming to look at it on Wednesday morning.    In the meantime the appointment I had this afternoon with The Falls Team has fallen by the wayside.   They always ring before they arrive just to make certain I am in.   I rang them but only got an answer phone, I left a message but obviously they haven't received it as the time has long passed for their visit and nobody has come.   All I can say is that it is a good job I walked round with my bus driver friend this morning otherwise I would still be waiting for them without having had my walk.

Are we to have a hold up in release from the final stages of Lockdown?   It would seem so - we shall know later today and as distressing as it may be we must abide by what the experts say, especially now we have got this far.   It does look as though we must grit our teeth and carry on.

In the meantime I must look seriously into buying three or four low growing shrubs for my rockery which is plagued by the Mares Tail weed.   Preferably they should be evergreen.   Any suggestions anyone?


25 comments:

gz said...

A small leaved Hebe?
Time is constant. We are the ones who change and go.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

That Falls Team are obviously not keeping track of time the way that you are - and I wouldn't put too much money on BT to arrive promptly either.

CharlotteP said...

I'm not so sure that time is constant...to me it seems elastic!

Bovey Belle said...

Sometimes time flies here - yet on a long journey when you are tired, the road seems endless. Different perceptions. I think back to when my grown children were small and demanding and sometimes it seems like yesterday - other times it is the 30+ years it is . . . Yet my childhood is still so sharp and clear and I can still tell you the name of every pony within 5 plus miles of where I lived and quote bits from my much re-read pony books :)

Hope your phone DOES get sorted out on Wednesday. Very difficult when you can't make contact with the Falls people to sort out another date or tell them what has happened.

Bovey Belle said...

Shrubs - Hebe, Euonymus, Dwarf Rhododendrons, Dwarf Conifers, Andromida polifolia. I've cheated and looked some up for you!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks BB - am now off to another site to see if our local nursery have any of these in stock. I shall not buy Hebe - I have several and have lost them all to the frosts this year.

Sue in Suffolk said...

One of those low growing conifers that spread outward rather than upwards might stop the mares tails.

As to time - I just wish it was as slow now as those school lessons which went on for ever - mainly Double Biology!

Derek Faulkner said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Going Gently said...

Big hugs old girl
Big hugs x

Bonnie said...

How nice that your new friend walked around the block with you. It's good to have company on a walk. Like you I spend a lot of time thinking about "the old days". It seems like so much has changed in so many ways. Time seems to go by faster and faster each day too. I'd love to slow it down a bit!

Minigranny said...

How lovely to have the company of the bus driver on your walk. Time is not within our control - when we're dreading something it comes too quickly and when life is full of perfect days they fly by.

Sheila said...

How about cotoneaster? I think they're evergreen and also have those lovely red berries in the fall. I'm about to have my 84th birthday and am also constantly surprised by the quick passage of time. Someone said to me the other daay that life is like a roll of toilet paper....the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.

Heather said...

I hope BT are more reliable than the Falls Team. Nice that you had company for your walk. As for thinking back to the past; I think it is something most of us do. I find my mind recalls things from my childhood when my grandchildren or great-grandchildren do or say something which triggers a memory. With regard to our own 'babies', mine will be 64,62,60,57 and 46 respectively this year. What energy I must have had once upon a time!

Joanne Noragon said...

How nice to have acquired a walking companion.

Susan said...

For shrubs, consider: Birds Nest Spruce, Dwarf Hinoki Cypress, Gold Lace Juniper, Gold Star Juniper and Dwarf Alberta Spruce. For a larger accent: Korean Fur or Baby Blue Spruce might be nice. I like planting these in threes in a triangle pattern. I agree, we all seem to be moving at warp speed. That said, the covid/lock down seems to not move away fast enough. Lovely to have a new walking partner to chat with.

The Furry Gnome said...

I too find myself thinking about the old days, and I'm a lot younger than you are!

Red said...

"Old days!" "long ago" are the only experiences we have to remember.

thelma said...

Not a great fan of conifers, as I like the buzz of the bumblebee in the garden. But there are so many shrubs to choose that it only remains to choose the right one for the soil.

The bike shed said...

To be rich in memory is to be wealthy indeed - and the sign of a full and richly lived life. In many ways, we cannot ask for more. And there is joy in recollection of times and people that are gone and yet live on in our thoughts. Your post made me smile today - I too enjoy a moment of reverie.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thelma - I felt the samd about conifers until I moved here but my gardens is a strange one. I love it. It is not all that big but it is very steep and tiered. I can no longer et up into it so rely on my gardener. The odd dwarf conifer makes a splash of green all yeae round.

Thanks everyone for your contributions.

Derek Faulkner said...

Pat, google Abies procera "Glauca Prostrata".

It's a lovely prostrate growing, silvery blue conifer that has cones as well.

Yellow Shoes said...

Periwinkle?
Would cascade over the edge of your rockery nicely. x

The Feminine Energy said...

I think about "time" probably much more than I should. I am opposite though in that I would LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to be 19 years old and do it all over again... only "right" this time. But we don't get that chance, do we. Or do we? Who knows what the next life will bring. ~Andrea xoxoxo

Chris said...

It is nice to look back and remember good times, I too think of times past.

Jayview said...

I wonder if you know what shrubs Southaven’s been indigenous to your area? They are often the ones that grow most easily and attract bees and butterflies