Back To Nature

I woke up today still feeling rough, although I’d slept better I still had a cold and I was weak, achy and to  be honest feeling a bit down.  Even sitting in Caffe Nero enjoying my normal morning routine I didn’t feel right, maybe I was missing my friends, maybe it was just the cold, maybe I was just lacking progress in my life over the last few days, regardless it didn’t feel good. 

The turnaround started when Debbie arrived in Caffe Nero and sat with me for an hour.  This is an exceptionally rare treat as she’s not a cafe person and she really dislikes the smell of fresh coffee in Caffe Nero.  Anyway today she set that aside to spend time with me and it felt great.  I further cemented that nice feeling with an extra long walk (long for a day when I’m feeling rough).

When I arrived home I made up a couple of smoothies, did some reading, tidied up the garden, packed my 4 day rucksack ready for my trip next week, did some cleaning, picked some fresh fruit and generally filled my afternoon with purposeful activity.  I spent some time with Tess, Jennie and Anna both came home, my cold seemed to recede.  I wrote a blog post about my holiday in London with Steph and returned the laptop that came yesterday, I’ve decided that I don’t need another laptop in my life.

I don’t know whether my cold was on the wane anyway, or whether putting extra focus on living well made the difference, it doesn’t really matter – putting extra effort into living well is worthwhile in any event.

Graham posted a picture on Instagram of wild blackberries today and it made me realise how much richer my life is for wild/fresh food.  Just today I’ve eaten raspberries and blackberries from the garden, I’ve had a few handfuls of raw lettuce, I’ve gone out walking and munched on yet more blackberries.  I had 4 types of leafy veg from the garden in my smoothie for lunch and a few more cooked for dinner.  If there’s one thing that’s really marked my retirement it’s this love of wild and home grown food of all kinds, it’s becoming a passion.  I’ve been reading more about gardening, allotments and small holdings and listening to podcasts discussing rearing chickens and rabbits.  My life seems infused with information about food, experiencing food, natural swimming and generally spending time in nature.

Tonight on my evening walk I started to think about my plans for the longer term retirement.  I’ve purposefully not rushed into planning, wanting my ideas to evolve at their natural pace, but some elements are becoming clear.  Becoming more self sufficient in food is definitely going to be important, as is achieving a high level of physical and mental fitness and spending a lot of time in nature. I’m going to want to be more social and work to create a significant body of work on my blog that I can be proud of.  I’m also going to want to play a significant role in my children’s and grandchildren’s lives and to keep my house and garden in good order.

Going back quickly to food, while listening to the Latest In Paleo podcast I was introduced to this superb mini-series of videos about the future of food local food production.  I’ve only watched the pilot so far, but it was inspiring.

The photo today is of the Kings Cross Pond Club’s outdoor natural swimming pool.  Steph and I went swimming there during our holiday in London and it was great, since then I’ve taken every opportunity to swim in open water and I’m been yearning to get back to swimming in a pool too, which I’ve earmarked for September. Swimming will likely be a big part of my next 30 day challenge!