Monday 3 August, 2:07 pm – Flanders Cross
It was rainy and blowy all night; clear, if gusty, this morning.
I’ve been for a good hour’s walk: quiet, peaceful, a bit of exercise, head clearing. I was thinking of where to go next, how to get on with it. I’ve made no decisions but I feel a little clearer in my mind.
How am I feeling? The cold is slowly clearing itself – but I’m still coughing. And I’m definitely feeling a need for a bit of physical contact with a male of the species. Last night I thought I might stay two nights in Derry, in my own room, with a view towards, um, sharing it, if the opportunity presents itself.
The dog and cat are speaking again (the dog had been shorn and bathed, the cat didn’t recognise him). There is a Kiwi, who lives in Hong Kong, here for a wood turning class. Matthew has mastered the Rubik’s Cube. Isabel is working on an art project. Soon Cornelia and the kids are going to Kilkenny.
I was messaging with Tyler last night – he visited Kilkenny in high school. His mum is in Italy right now. He said his life is complicated and will send me an email. Jonathan’s birthday is today and I messaged him … he, too, has promised an email.
The need to travel on is growing.
11:15 pm
My next steps are coming together – sort of. I slogged through the options this afternoon.
I feel … anxious, just a bit, because I’ve gotten less work done here than I’d hoped.
But I have rested and relaxed, I had a cold (which, it seems, the kids have now and I feel quite bad about it). I’m ready to travel more – if not ride quite yet.
The thing is I’ve said ‘yes ‘and offered to help and helped and listened attentively to Cornelia while she’s talked. And she’s a talker. It’s not that I’ve been shirking the work – just not getting through as much of it as I’d like.
I’m leaning toward a 17-hour ferry to France. I’ve emails out with Andrew and Tom – who I would see in the UK, but now, might not.
Glenn’s sister and brother-in-law stopped by this evening with their two and three-year-old kids. They live where he’s from – northeast of Dublin. Their daughter was forthright – which I like in a child (I don’t have to mind) – an assertive and clear ‘no’ or simple ‘I want to see the dog’ – no waffle or whine with that one.
Hmmm. Sigh. Yup, I need to travel more – and to get back on the bike.