Well, December is 'racing away' again as usual! Even in this 'lockdown' year it seems impossible to get Christmas organised, sorted, written, sent and delivered!
I have this morning though been out doing some delivering. Rather than walk round and round my new 'exercise yard' at the cycle bowl at the end of my road I decided today that I would be thrifty and walk around Hollington delivering Christmas cards to my friends houses and save myself some money on postage. To be honest, I am NOT surprised these days to see Post Office staff wearing masks and gloves because the prices charged now for stamps/parcel deliveries is daylight robbery! (lol) Even second class stamps cost you an arm and a leg and I hear first class will be about 90p soon! I know e mail and online electronic cards has knocked the amount of physical cards being sent down a lot but continually raising prices is only going to cut the Post Office's business even more!
Anyway, I walked about three miles in total and saved myself at least 4 stamps in the bargain so that is another £2 something I can use to help buy Christmas presents. Saving cash every way that I can is a priority for me these days but I will always spend money happily on presents for people because friends, family and lovers (if you're lucky enough to have one!) are worth every penny!
There is no substitute for human interaction and just things like sharing a joke with a stranger in the street can help cheer you up. On my way back from delivering my cards this morning I saw two guys trying to deliver a settee up a tricky flight of steps. I stood and watched them struggling and so when they turned around one of them said to me in a jovial tone "You were waiting for us to fail, weren't you"! "Now you know what happens when someone says they want something suite for Christmas!" I called back as quick as a flash. Both guys roared with laughter and we all went away happier and grinning to ourselves.
Talking about grinning - my old mate, Jeff Belton and I put the finishing touches to our Christmas radio show the other day. You have no idea how much work there is that goes into preparing a radio show if you've never done one before. Oh no! When you switch on your radio or listen online and it all sounds very 'off the cuff' you think that all a D.J. does for his money is turn up, play records, talk a bit and then 'bugger off home' but there is a LOT more to making a good show than that! 'Winging it' does play its part in any live radio broadcast though because you never know what can happen or how the atmosphere in the studio is going to feel on the day. It's the same when you are making records and recording in a recording studio - some days the 'atmosphere just works' and you and the people you are working with just click. Other days it feels awkward and what you get sounds 'forced' rather than natural and inspired. All you can do in either case though is do your homework, prepare and get a clear picture in your mind about what you are hoping to achieve and then hope for the best!
Finally for today, I also took part in a 'Creative Writing' session on zoom last Thursday with Artsonprescription and one of the exercises we were given to do was to use part of a poem by Kitty Wright called 'My Dream Box' to create our own poem 'in that style'. I was quite pleased with what I came up with because, not only do I think it says a lot about me and how I am feeling at the moment, it has a wonderfully quirky 'pattern of thoughts' about it. Have a read and see what you think?
My Dream Box
I will put in the box
A journey endlessly up and down the escalators at Debenhams
Thoughts of family and friends
Smiling faces, laughter and a cinematic illusion of togetherness
I will put in the box
The safety pin from God’s nappy
A bottle of Kinnie from sunny Malta
My ipod complete with never ending batteries rechargeable by love
My box shall appear as a Christmas box
Wrapped in paper with ribbon it shall be tied
It’s strength an inner resolve and unending magic
I will dream in my box
Of romantic liasons, candle lit moments
And of how words allowed actions to speak.
Antony May 3/12/20
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