Derbyshire 131 - Chesterfield /a late walk/why does it always rain on me ? /Day 77 - 77 Sunset Strip /my imaginary letter

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June has let me down . I remember December in France on the DD beaches thinking that it is only 5 or so months until June when the sun will shine . I hardly expected to be wrong. June can be warm. It can be fiercely hot and humid with thunderstorms . Equally it can be miserable . And miserable this June has proved to be thus far. What with Covid 19 and demonstrations to contend with what we dont need is poor weather . We are into the 6th day of June and three of those days have been rainy. Cold as well .No chance to sit out in the garden with a nice crisp white wine or an Aperol Spritz. If there is an up side it is the grass. The constant rain has watered it and turned it green again . We have not needed to water the vegetable plot. The rain has done it for us and the water butt is full again. No more watering cans being lugged up to the garden. No more reusing old bath water. For the time being anyway . However tomorrow I dont want rain. I want the sun back . I think I will be more than disappointed though according to the weather forecasters .

It was disappointing to go to bed listening to the rain pounding on the roof and the windows . My imaginary letter to Globecar was being refined as I lay there listening to the pitter patter. Eventually I fell asleep. I probably dreamed about sunshine . Perhaps I dreamed about that new van that I would not be borrowing. I woke and the rain was still bouncing down. No walk this morning . Saturday was leisurely - breakfast eaten slowly . With nowhere to walk there was little point in hurrying . Perhaps by 9 the rain would have shifted and the wind blown the grey old clouds away.

No 9 o'clock arrived and the rain still fell in bucketloads . I read the blog again about the couple who were given the free van for a year . My emotions reading their story veered between green envy wondering how they did it and to a slight annoyance with them as they rubbed their good fortune in my face . 10' o'clock arrived and a window of opportunity arose . Instead of walking I started to bake . I couldnt walk now could I ? No the walk had to wait until after lunch .

At 1 I set off - Glenn was off to pay his dues to the gun club. He dropped me off close to the railway line . A train whistled beneath the bridge . I dont know which way it was going . North towards Chesterfield and Sheffield or south down the Derby line or the second line to Nottingham. Another went by as I walked . I had ripped off my thought for the day earlier on and realised that it was written by Thich Nhat Hanh. His words come up often . When I started to buy the calendars he was never there . Now I read his thoughts , the thoughts of the Dalai Lama and Buddha most days.

So what do you think about life now? Has it changed for you? Do you wake up and just feel grateful to have avoided Covid 19? Do you wish you could wake up and it would all have gone away? As I walked I thought that it had probably changed me . I walked more. I saw things I have never seen before . I appreciate the simple beauty of a small flower . But I feel frustrated . It is the 77th day of lockdown . Another week gone. Another weekend arrived and a new week just around the corner . My late walk was giving me a new perspective on walking . The sun was hidden behind dark dirty clouds and the rain started to fall . Just gently at first . 77 what did that number mean for me . It took me back years . Back to mum and dad watching the TV watching an American television programe 77 Sunset Strip a private detective drama series It ran from the late 150's to the mid 60's . I cannot remember what night it was on but a Sunday comes to mind . It was one of mums favourites together with Peyton Place, Dr Kildare and later Dallas. I wonder why my mind when I walk goes back over odd things that are dredged up in my memory . My walk was not the best of walks . Along the pavements of Hepthorne Lane and New Tupton . Through the council houses . And still the rain came down . By now it was pouring down and I was getting wet . Why does it always rain on me ? The words of the song rang in my head and I found myself humming and singing away getting slowly very wet . Then my knight in shining armour turned up. Glenn and Ziggy - he has ridden round looking for me to save me from the sudden downpour I found myself in .

I hope tomorrows walk will be a better one . I can only hope for no rain and a good walk. But back to my calendar - what did Hanh say to me today " If you miss the present moment you miss your appointment with life " Perhaps the rain is not that bad after all .

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