9:31 p.m. - 2024-04-24
The Surcharge

Last night, I wandered far out by the river along the farm track, and as I walked along I was quite looking forward to seeing how the goldfinches were doing since my last visit. Nine pairs nesting in the long hedgerow from last year was going to take some beating, but I'd seen at least four new nests last outing so there was some hope they'd be back in numbers this year. When I got there, it was a site of complete carnage. Mr Farmer had trimmed, nay hacked the whole hedgerow for nearly two hundred yards to oblivion. All gone. No hedgerow left for the goldfinches. I walked the length of it and at one point found the top of one of the hedges cut off and lying behind the fence. A cute little feathered nest still woven between the branches, a marvel of nature created by small birds to make a home. Below, three tiny eggs smashed on the ground. I thought there were laws that said hedgerow cutting could only be done at certain times of the year?

I was feeling fairly dejected on the way home and stopped south of the river to say hello to the three horses who live in the field next to the old Ferryman's Barn. It was then that I noticed the first pair of barn swallows this year swooping low over the field and that brought me back up on the level. Spring is definitely here. Still no sign of the swifts though.

Lunch with first wife was fine today excepting some mother-daughter drama regarding a set of patio furniture. She tried to drag me into the drama and get me to take sides but I've learned that mother-daughter drama's are best avoided and left to them to resolve. I made a swift exit and spent the afternoon wandering the local forest trails.

It has been a particularly fine day, temps up around 18C by mid afternoon and I think I actually have a little red on my face and arms, a bit of sunburn no less. I took my Pentax gear along to take some photos and at one point met a youngish woman, probably late 30s to early 40s walking her dog. I asked if she would take a pic of me with my phone as I just can't do that selfie nonsense well at all, and she said yes. It turned out to be the best photo of the day. All mine were a bit meh. We chatted cameras and photography for a few minutes. She'd never seen a Pentax digital camera before. Canon,Nikon and Sony she knew about. Do they still make Pentax cameras, she enquired. Yes they do, but I had the distinct feeling she was inferring Pentax was outdated and thus maybe I was too. We said goodbye.

I walked about 6km around the forest trails today, visiting my old walking routes and taking in both lakes and foresters tracks. I passed the same clump of Polystichum Munitum I found last autumn. it hasn't grown or spread much, but it is still there, living by the trail as it always has. It made me think of someone a world away and for a moment I thought it might be an idea just to ask how they had been. A sentiment never needs a reply I thought to myself, and sharing one might make a difference. The clarity and solitude of the forest fills my head often with thoughts like that, but for the most part I forget or rarely act on them. It was good enough for me that I found a quiet moment to think of someone else who lives in another world beyond mine.

Talking of which, my youngest sister dropped me a mail to say hi and do a quick catch up. We don't keep in touch as much as we should, but it made me think perhaps there has been something in the air these past days trying to bring folks back together or even just in touch enough to say hello, i'm still here. I hope you are too. She's had a tough time since her cancer diagnosis during the pandemic and she is still fighting the good fight. She seems to be doing well though and I'm pleased about that fact.

I also got a message from Karol about the recent Aviemore trip. Because he had arranged the hotel room for me using his staff discount, and paid for it, the hotel added a £40 surcharge onto the bill that he wasn't expecting. The itemised bill read:

Surcharge £40 - loss of 1 x luxury monogrammed McDonald Hotels guest bathrobe from room number xxx Yikes!

I had to tell him who had it as he wasn't pleased about the extra charge and he then called me a sly old dawg while asking me very personal details about my night with a certain Lithuanian. But wait, nothing happened! He wasn't convinced. Anyhoo, Luisza or whatever her real name is has kept the robe and reimbursed Karol but the plot thickened after I got a call from her ( Karol gave her my number - I hate when people give out my number without telling me! ) this afternoon.

Her dress was apparently handed into guest lost property by housekeeping but has since gone missing. Housekeeping also denied there was a note saying who it belonged to and her contact details. It all sounds a bit dubious and Luisza says it's my fault, I should have come to her room and handed it back in person. Umm, don't think so. She then suggested the strangest thing. She want's to meet up in Perth next week. She will be travelling down in the train to do some end of month pay day shopping and some new outfits are on the list of things to buy. She says it would be nice if I could make up for the loss of her dress by contributing to a new one. And do lunch at the same time.

Have you ever had the feeling you are being setup for something, or perhaps have just been setup? There have been times in my life where I've gotten into things where in actual fact nothing happened and everything was relatively innocent. The fallout and drama afterwards has been such that I might as well have did everything everyone thinks I did. It would have been less dramatic an outcome. Oh well. I'm having nothing further to do with Luisza, but strangely I do feel a certain responsibility for what has happened. I might wire her a few quid and send her some flowers or something.

So, I was a bit sore after all of todays walking but decided I'd go out again tonight as it was such a lovely night. I did another 5km, so thats 11km in total today. My joints all ache, my feet are burning hot, my lungs are on fire, and my skin is slightly sun burned. I have actually enjoyed the days walking but I think perhaps for the first time in recent memory I've realised that this ageing body of mine is no longer up to doing what the 20 something stuck inside of it want's it to do. The only positive I can take at this time is that I still manage to get there in the end. It just takes a lot longer to get there. That can be a good thing in certain circumstances but the fact is nothing is done in a hurry these days, and maybe thats just something i'll have to learn to accept.