A bit of wintry colour

This morning at the gym I wondered at the logic behind walking on a treadmill. I mean, it occurred to me that one can walk anywhere. It’s not really a necessity that one needs to join a gym to walk. In fact, it also occurred to me, one could walk to the gym then walk back and not pay a membership fee at all.

There was a guy, about my age, who was walking this morning as I pedalled. He was still there, walking, after I’d finished my 12 kilometres and had moved onto some Lat Down work. (That sounds like I know what I’m talking about. ‘Lat Down’ is the name of the machine and could just as easily be ‘Trevor’.)

As I moved to some hip abduction he picked up his pace a bit and moved into a light jog. It then occurred to me that perhaps he was just working up to some super intense workout. That, of course, is easier at a gym rather than in the park.

For my part, I worked up a good level of sweat while watching the penultimate episode of Omnisient, a Brazilian sci fi drama/murder mystery/hi-tech thriller I’ve been watching. It is in the vein of Black Mirror. It depicts an intrusive near future where everything we do is watched by tiny little drones.

I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Mind you, at first I thought it was Portuguese.

Later, after dinner, I watched the final episode. I can’t really say that the ‘twist’ was much of a surprise at the end but it was very enjoyable getting there. It’s also wide open for a second series, which I will definitely watch.

Most of my day was taken up with housework. Well, apart from taking the girls to the park after lunch and ringing mum in the morning. In the park, I was very taken with the plethora of crocuses littering the ground around some of the trees. (I don’t know the collective noun for crocuses so plethora will have suffice.)

Always a welcome harbinger of spring with their promise of the colour to come. As I said to mum on the phone this morning, the colour is slowly returning. Though it does seem rather early. A bit like our first emerging bulbs.

I notice that we already have a couple of freesias out in the Wild Flower Patch.

Mum was a bit negative today saying how much she hates the care home. This is the complete opposite to last week when she loved it. I’m thinking that this is the sort of thing I’m likely to experience when I ring her. I try and keep the conversation light and cheerful but it’s a bit tricky when she starts off by saying she wants to move.

Still, I talked about the girls and the flowers until she sounded a bit more cheerful. I also mentioned our upcoming trip to Paris but that just prompted a “Lucky you!” response which sounded a bit narky.

Anyway, I think it cheered her up a bit. She seems to enjoy our weekly phone calls.

Prick of the Week

The van in this photo looks like it might be coming out, joining the traffic. That is definitely not the case. The vans driver just thinks he’s more important that anyone else.

I pity any poor person in a wheelchair who has to navigate around it. Or a parent with a stroller. The road is not particularly quiet at that time of the morning and the traffic is rarely happy to stop. Or slow down.

I guess it might explain why people walk on the treadmill at the gym rather than outside.