Well, I thought it was high time I went about writing something, seeing as it's been many moons now since I posted something proper on here.
These are strange times, aren't they. I can't quite get my head around the fact that we're in the middle of a pandemic and much of the human world has either come to a grinding halt or gone into overdrive. But then, it also doesn't feel particularly strange to me at the moment because I've been at holed up at home for much of the last few months anyway. (And home is a soundproofed modern flat overlooking a building site and the mouth of the River Itchen, so it's very quiet and one rarely sees or hears people other than the construction workers.) Before I was made redundant from my job at the end of Feb, I was working from home a lot because I had extremely little work to do and my only other colleague based in the same office was part-time, and (undoubtedly in part due to the lack of both brain stimulation and social interaction) my depression had returned - so it was easier to get through the days at home rather than by myself in the office.
Something I've somehow managed to do this last week, though, which I wasn't able to make myself do when I was working from home a lot, is do a few specific things every single day. Which, for me, is quite an achievement. Each day since Monday 23rd, I've woken up and made myself some hot water with honey and lemon, sat and completed a wordsearch, then had breakfast, done a 30-minute dance workout a little later in the morning (check out 'Body Groove'!), and gone for a walk in the afternoon. The latter almost didn't happen today, but I eventually got myself outside at about 5:15pm, haha. The rest of the time is completely unstructured (I've started thinking about making a schedule so there is structure and I do more), and I've done FAR too much mindless scrolling through Facebook, but at least the telly hasn't gone on until the evenings (although catching up on shows I enjoy would be better than mindless scrolling), and I also managed to read a whole book in a week which hasn't happened for a long while. Oh, and I've also enjoyed watching Chris Packham's daily 9am Facebook Live broadcasts. They remind me how much I love nature/countryside shows like Springwatch and Countryfile, and that I should make a point to find out when they're on. I'd probably enjoy Gardener's World, too, even though I'm not a gardener.
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| Wood anemones |
I'm grateful that I live a ten-minute walk from Weston Shore, a shingle beach that is Southampton's only remaining shoreline. It stretches for about 2.5 miles down to Royal Victoria Country Park (then continues under a different name), but I've only ever walked that whole way once or twice, and have still never explored the country park itself, despite liking such places. I'm just not an explorer, especially if I've just been walking for miles and will need to walk back again; I need to see routes and know basically where I want to go, so if there are no maps or signposts showing paths then I won't go wandering. So I only tend to go about halfway along the beach, to where Weston meets Netley and there's a slight outward curve in the shoreline which you can't see beyond. (I've never been to Netley Abbey, either.) I was very happy to discover a nice nature reserve on the other side of the road behind this spot. I thought it was just a little woodland but the internet tells me it's a 150-acre nature reserve that has grasslands as well.
I like beaches and the sea, but don't share the love that a few members of my family have for them. I'm happiest in more inland environments - the countryside, rolling hills, woodland, hedgerows, fields, lakes and rivers. Living in a city and being unable to drive (my choice), I feel utterly deprived of nature. I particularly miss birdsong. So I was very glad to find Westwood. I wish I'd found it a year and a half ago when I first moved here, but hey ho. I like using my senses when I'm outside, I'm very observant and like noticing things; the different sounds and feelings through my feet made by the different sizes and textures of pebbles when walking along the beach, the lapping of the waves, the soft rustle or stronger roar of the wind in the trees, the almost muted sound of my soft shoes on the earthen path through the woods, the occasional soft crackle of a twig or leaf underfoot, the big fat fluffy cute bumblebees buzzing around, the slight damp and cool smell you get near a water source. I'm the sort of person who, in a very childlike way, says hello to many non-human beings: the morning sun, the moon, stars, birds, trees, plants, bees, bugs, animals, the wind, the rain and streams and rivers and lakes... I'm hoping we will continue to be able to go out for daily exercise in a few weeks' time when this initial lockdown is reviewed, as the place will soon be absolutely covered in a carpet of bluebells. The vibrant green leaves are everywhere, I don't think I've seen anywhere as densely packed with them before. I wish there was some wild garlic too - one of my absolute favourite things, which I get super excited about finding because I so rarely do - but sadly not. There are quite a few lesser celandines and wood anemones, though, which I've only just learned to recognise - they're pretty :)
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| Weston Shore at low tide |
Right, it's so late that it's early. I've just seen the clock jump from 00:59 to 02:00. As nice as late summer evenings are, I do have this weird irritation about the clocks going forward. It's not the real time (although some would argue that time itself isn't real). During British Summer Time, the sun reaches its zenith around 1pm rather than 12 noon. "Noon" isn't solar noon. I'm always pleased when the end of October rolls around and the time can be correct again. ... Hahaha. Anyway.
That'll do for now! I'll write again soon. Hope you're all well.