Walking in the wind sure takes a lot out of you.
That’s mainly what Van discovered this weekend, and what was reinforced for D&T. Fighting the wind is just plain tiring. If you’re gabbing with friends and having fun (discovering the world of Scottish desserts known as the “knickerbocker glory” — has ANYONE else ever heard of that? What about a Black Forest Knickerbocker Glory? What does any of it have to do with New Yorkers, which are what ‘knickerbockers’ are, or else they’re the short pants…? How the heck did that end up being a dessert!?), you can be carried along by the momentum of silliness, but the next day usually knocks you on your bum.
That’s what happened to Van today: he slept. A lot. Of course, waking at 4 a.m. Sunday morning didn’t help him stay awake during the day, but after a big breakfast and a long chat, he drifted into a little catnap… and then another one…
He did get out for a nice long look at the bridges and architecture near our flat…
…and thought it was really something. He was really impressed, if a little cold and exhausted. He took lots of pictures…but he came home and took a wee nap… then went to bed at 8 p.m. He’ll be more alive tomorrow…!
Meanwhile, D&T are enjoying having a guest, not only because he’s a friend, but because it’s reinforcing to them just how lazy they’ve gotten.
Or maybe ‘lazy’ is the wrong word.
Maybe the word is ‘routine.’
When we lived in Benicia, it took us maybe two years to really discover the waterfront, and by the time we left, we were walking there every day, reveling in the wind blowing off the bay and admiring the chalk drawings with which some enterprising artist decorated the sidewalk each week. But it took us two years to notice. How many years have people lived in the Bay Area without taking a Bay cruise or visiting Alcatraz or even seeing the Martinez Museum? Does it just take too long to remember to look around like a tourist?
We live in a place of varied moods and appearances. Glasgow has bits of gorgeousness in all sorts of places, but sometimes we just don’t take the time to look. We’ve been pretty heads-down, hands-busy for the last number of months, and our worlds have narrowed to the path between the University and our flat, the grocer and our flat, and …well, just sometimes our flat. On the weekends we’re tired. At the end of the day we’re tired. Things tend to wear us down along with the rain and the wind, yet the world a half mile down the road is something to see. It’s good to have a guest sometimes to remind one to look.
– D & T
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gorgeous photos! makes me soooo want to be there 🙂
I hear you! My life now is so interesting and varied with things to do and see and I think–how did my life in the Bay Area become so routine?? Something to ponder for the next phase…
It is so easy to forget to be a tourist where you live. Sometimes you just have to kick yourself in the butt and remember that you need to go out on a “date” and see something new! Even if you don’t want to… You just might not get this opportunity again.
Can’t wait to go and see the sights!! Everything seems so beautiful and richly colored.