Wrexham County Borough 125 - Chasing Pleasures /Water and Bread/our tour guide has passed away /painted over signs /the Sunbeams

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Chasing pleasure brings pleasure . So said Kapil Gupta. The words went on . This morning my calendar was bringing up a very long piece of wisdom for me to read, digest and either keep for reference or throw away. Chasing brings pleasure. But it does not bring satisfaction . In fact he went on to say that it was in fact precisely because it did not bring satisfaction that we must keep chasing it . I thought about that one . I guess I am one of those who is always chasing pleasure . I never get fed up of chasing pleasure in one form or another . It usually relates to travelling . New towns and cities bring me pleasure . Seeing something I have never seen before brings me pleasure . Reading a book . Reading a book about travel and finding new places to see or visiting something that interests me . Yes I am always chasing pleasure . Life can be miserable without that good meal, good company , a good read , a trip out be it a day trip or a weeks holiday . For the last year I have found myself chasing pleasure locally rather than further afield . Satisfaction - I thought about that as I walked this morning . It is a cooler mistier day with a real feel of Autumn and Winter round the corner . Walks are later as it takes longer for day to break . It rains more times than it is dry . The walks are limiting until the Spring and Summer again. So chasing pleasure become harder as winter approaches . I wondered as I walked if pleasure brought me satisfaction . On the one hand yes it does . On the other no because I just go on chasing it . When I get home from my walk I will no doubt pull out the old photo books and reminisce on holiday trips . Did they bring pleasure . They certainly did . Do they continue to bring pleasure - of course . Looking at the photos brings back the memories . Reading the blogs from holidays past bring my memories flooding back . A wonderful Greek beach . A coffee in a sunny square in St Jean de Luz, waking up in a quiet French aire , the Alhambra and wonderful Cordoba . I heard today too that the tour guide who walked us around Wrexham a few months ago had passed away suddenly whilst on holiday in Canada . You have to chase pleasures when you can .

Today those places were far from my memory as I take you for a walk up the village , up the river and take in quiet Bangor on Dee. It is a lovely village . A pleasant place to live in. It is dead this morning . I wonder if everyone has retired and don't rise until 9 or 10. My walks are always earlier than that . I have the road to myself and my thoughts. I don't find much distraction in the village . The houses and bungalows were all built roughly the same time . Some different designs as the building slump forced many of the builders into financial ruin as others took over . The house on the corner is being newly rendered . The new render they spray on the walls . Coloured already and flat . The new look in plaster . I thought it would look out of place but oddly it does look nice . The trees in the neighbouring garden wave angrily in the wind . They have been left to grow far too high. One day I thought the wind would take them and I hoped no-one was in the road when they fell. Perhaps it would be justice if they fell on the house belonging to the person who loves them . That would feel like justice . I do find little these days new to notice . No scarecrows , no signs wishing the best to the NHS. There are not enough people in the village to contribute . The 20 mph sign has been painted over . Not a brilliant job but it shows the distaste for crawling speeds where they are not needed .

The High Street is dominated by the two pubs . One caters for summer trade being closest to the river . The other once was used a bed and breakfast for visitors to the nearby largest industrial estate in Europe . Now the accomodation side has gone but the pub remains. The church dominates the other end of the village .

Today I found myself looking at old bikes . The Sunbeam club had arrived at the village hall for their breakfasts before they set off on their away day. They would return later in the day for their presentations. I stood for a while admiring the old and new motorbikes .

The walk back was punctuated with rain and the usual peer into the self catering accomodation on the High Street . The owner had started some while back to put in items for me to find . Today the sign extremely small in the corner proclaimed that bread and water could easily be turned into toast and tea . How true. The humble bread toasted and plastered with butter was the perfect start to a day. Being British a cup of tea is the perfect accompaniment . Somehow though it made me think We needed land to produce the flour to make the bread , yeast and a few other ingredients . The butter - well that does not make itself . Thankyou to the cows that give me the milk to put in my tea and to make the butter . A simple few words which certainly gave me pause for thought on the way home . I may not be travelling so much but small pleasures such as finding that hidden message brightened my day . And then there was tea and toast .

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Comments

[Home and Away]

I strive for contentment...
Is that the same as satisfaction?

[JenGog]

the question
An interesting question Bob .