Viral Spain Blog 31^st March 2022.

Riding on a bus in a third world country my companion Peter seems to have disappeared . I asked another passenger who I knew and she could only make the vaguest of suggestions. It seemed he must have got off at the last village, but why? Would we manage to reconnect. This was a dream I had last night, and in fact Peter disappeared some thirty years ago after being college, holiday, and drinking friends for more than ten years. Last I heard he was moving to Bristol, maybe even promised to send me his new address, but I never heard another word from or of him.

Peter was not a man one could get close to, not a man of feelings or connection, but we seemed to knock along pretty well together. We both liked cycling, and talking about ideas. He could be a bit negligent about all sorts of things. His mother once said to me 'Peter will not push himself ´. So I guess I was not the only one never informed of his new address.

Why though has he surfaced in my dreams now? And why did the dream have a strangely disturbing feel to it? I guess I never mourned the end of the friendship. It had no clear ending. For a long time I expected he would be in touch. Feelings are still lurking. It is something of an insecure time for us too. We keep getting ill, and now I have a tooth to be extracted. And we leave for the UK in nine days. I find it boring when people go on about their health concerns so I won't. One's own are somehow fascinating and we long to talk about them but other's are so dull. Why is that? Maybe you see it differently?

I will just tell you though that I have it on good authority from no less than the Harvard School of Medicine that you cannot do anything to boost your immune system. Or at least there is no evidence of anything working. In vitrio testing of animal tissue suggests the absence of some micro nutrients might make a difference but as in every other case they say more research is needed. So there is little point in going overboard with vitamin C or having cold baths. The best they can offer is to keep your overall health up to scratch. And maybe (yes you guessed it, more research is needed ) keep your stress levels under control.

So for me it is more meditation, even less alcohol and coffee and avoiding those places where close contact with many people occurs. No difficulty in avoiding metro trains but Biodance maybe a bio hazard! Then we have that flight to catch. Then again, after three jabs, and no contact with anyone much Sarah and I both got ill in January and tested positive for Covid! But I am in danger of doing what I said I would not do...

Trains, so many people seem to really like them. I do too, sometimes. I do not like them crowded, and sometimes the cost is prohibitive. But my clever wife sought tickets between Bristol and Rugby for us to drop our hire car and head to the canal boat and they were going to cost 142 pounds for two. But some scouting around found us tickets for 65 pounds. And not just two but six tickets, you may have heard of the rail web site which divides the journey up into separate tickets for shorter stretches to reduce the overall cost. I had no idea it would save this much. It is called raileasy.co.uk. I can only assume that tickets are far cheaper per mile for shorter stretches because there is more competition. Anyway it is great to save so much and without having to book on the only two days that very cheap deals are widely available.

Okay that is all from me. I won't be taking my lap top for our two weeks in England but hopefully I will manage to keep you posted next week. Stay healthy.

 

Viral Spain Blog 24^th March 2022.

Did you get the brown dust treatment last week? The mountains around here disappeared behind a fog of tiny suspended sand particles from the Sahara. We have had milder versions before. This was much denser and brought down by heavy rain to give a yellow brown coating to all horizontal surfaces and many vertical. We envied our neighbour whose house is painted a creamy brown colour on which the stain hardly showed.

Luckily we saw an add by enterprising friends offering pressure washing. We booked them and headed north for a weekend with daughter and partner. We drove 300km. on Thursday (hence no blog) and they caught the train down to Ciudad Real after work on Friday. We were all staying in Almagro. It is a picturesque place, with new houses built to look like the older ones and no blocks of flats anywhere near the centre. The main square is surrounded by wooden buildings. To be honest I rarely get excited by buildings but enjoy the historic atmosphere they create and love to visit new landscapes. The town is surrounded by very green undulating countryside peppered with volcanoes and castles. We climbed a very steep track to see a dramatic hill top fortification. I was pleased to find I could!

Next day we went to see a volcano. It was shut! No really. There was a little pay hut and a locked gate and the whole volcano was fenced off.

It was Sarah's birthday on the Saturday so we went for a posh meal. The food was very good but unfortunately my wild pig came alone, a huge plateful of delicious sliced meat with nothing else. I am worried that this reveals my lack of finesse in the food department, but I longed for a chip or two.

Our return on Monday was easy. The rain held off until after we got here. Alas the clean up had not taken place. We learnt while we were away that it wouldn't but it was still a disappointment to see the skin of mud half way across every tile. Heavy rain had created a semi clean effect but done nothing for the walls nor windows.

And now it is back again. The brown rain is spattering. The mountains sit behind a yellowish veil. The wind is howling and the dust spreading.

I feel grateful that it is not bombs and bullets besieging us. Our weekend was a good escape from thoughts of war.

It was also another chance to continue to get to know our 'son in law'. (They are not married but he has become somehow more than daughters partner.) We had some good conversations and these usually veer between fun and seriousness. I told them how I like sometimes in a low moment to think of all the people that love me. Alex later said how he hoped I realised he was on the list. I was so touched. It was both the sentiment and that he felt able to share it.

So, an escape, some significant sharing, and beautiful countryside and town. Even the predicted rain held off.

And now alas I am back to the sore throat and headache malaise that has been coming and going since Covid over a month ago. I thought I was over it. I will be.

Go well my friends.

 

Viral Spain Blog 11^th March 2022.

Would I or wouldn't I? Sitting in the opening circle of Biodance on Wednesday evening I did not know. It could be embarrassing and raise nothing. I wanted to see if people were minded to contribute to a collection for UNICEF's children in Ukraine campaign.

A few people spoke then I took the plunge. I am so pleased I did. We raised in total 175 euros. Since then I have been trying to get UNICEF's UK website to accept the money! I hope the non functioning of the computer is due to an over whelming number of donations. I shall break off from this when the Uk opens for business to phone them.

Wouldn't it be great if all the charities helping out in Ukraine were over whelmed with donations. I even felt quite optimistic when I got home on Wednesday evening and counted the money. Since then I have had a little foray into the British newspapers a kind neighbour brought back from the UK on Monday, but alas soon descended from my relatively positive mood. Now I am back to my media abstinence. I have a friend who accused me, a few months ago of carrying the troubles of the world on my shoulders. I cannot deny it. I am not sure how to be light hearted and care free when there is a pandemic, global warming, Brexit and a war.

I aim not to think about these areas except in a problem solving sort of way. I meditate twice a day. I go out into the garden to enjoy the view, the flowers and the sunshine whenever it is sunny, and quite often when it is not. I spend a minute or two stroking the f—king cat whenever.

I even have a therapy session every three weeks, maybe I will look specifically at 'carrying' less next time.

My friend and therapist shared her woes and then I shared mine, an hour each way. This is what we do. It means no money changes hands and I get to practice my therapeutic skills as well as receiving some. We have been doing it for years. One might imagine it would be difficult to move from deep self examination and the woe that can sometimes arise in this, to a position of support, reflection and re-framing that might be needed immediately after. In practice it has never arisen. We do take five or ten minutes at change over for a breath of fresh air or a pee, then somehow we can just proceed. I guess both of us have been involved in therapeutic work for decades. Receiving as well as giving sessions is a normal part of being a therapist.

In my session last week I picked my friend's brains about relaxation or guided meditation recordings and she recommended an 'App' called Insight Timer. I have now used it seven times, mostly with the same recording. It is called `Yoga Nidra for Sleep and Rest ' and lasts half an hour. It includes tracking through the body one finger at a time. So far it has only sent me to sleep for a siesta and not at night but there are nearly three quarters of a million meditations on the app, so I can probably find one that works for me....or die trying!!

I just tried UNICEF again and they could not help me as I have a non UK post code.

They suggested I ring again after nine when head office will be open. Who knew it could be so difficult to give. Sarah and I must have spent a total of 3 hours on this so far. Alright some of that is registering my new credit card and updating my banks contact details. I feel I need to stick with UNICEF as that is what I told the dance group. One more call!

Go well my friends, and don't mention the war!!

 

Viral Spain Blog 3^rd March, 2022.

Another Biodance start to the blog....showing last week in a new light! The altered state I referred to might have been because I was coming down with something. I felt a bit ill over the next few days...or was it a blip on what proves to be a long Covid recuperation? Anyway the Biodance bit felt pretty good at the time.

I was so tired last night I did not go at all. Some gentle exercise in the sunshine did little to revive me.

Although it was an exceptional day. I did nearly four hours driving comprising two trips to Motril. Not a usual thing. We are thinking of swapping our car for an electric version. I was test driving a Kia E- Niro. It was very speedy...with about 200hp it is not surprising. I always remember how the light of my Dad's driving life was a Humber Sceptre with 88hp and of mine, a black Peugeot 205 GTI with 105 ! Things have moved on.

Anyway I wanted to try it on mountain roads, not just because it is fun to drive fast cars on mountain roads, no there was a logical reason of course. We do most of our driving on mountain roads. So what better than the route back home.

On Tuesday night I was very nervous. It was my farewell to the men's group ceremony. I could not work out what was making me nervous. I guess it was new event to me, never having left before! No that did not fit. I have just thought it is more likely a relic from my childhood. The men's group had become my family and family events often disappointed. ( I don't much like Christmas even now!)

Anyway it was brief and touching. One man even brought me some daffodils from his garden. That particularly touched me, something extra. In my experience people seldom give men flowers, which makes it all the sweeter.

Afterwards I felt hollow. A significant feature of the last three or so years is over, and by my choosing. There has also been a good, optimistic feeling of new possibilities. I have in mind to meet several of the guys for a beer or coffee. There is also a new men's group started in the valley. And having only Biodance makes that group more significant.

I have just shut my eyes for a minute. Mmm, again, it is so lovely. A heavy eyed gift from an indirect route. Sarah and I both have those sounds in the head that don't exist. Luckily they do not seem to be indicative of schizophrenia, rather the more mundane and much preferable tinnitus. A specialist has given Sarah some tablets that are supposed to help so I have tried them too. They consist of supplements and melatonin. It is the latter I suspect of having given me the heavy eye lids.

And so far there has been no noticeable impact on my head full of sounds. At least I do not get Sarah's heavy lorry noise, rather a chorus of roosting starlings or sometimes a more varied twittering. For a long time I thought I was really hearing birds....then I realised I heard them in the dark as well.

I have not yet updated you on my friend seeking romance in Cambodia. After a lovely week things seem to have taken a turn for the worse as the new love is not happy that my friend still corresponds with two Filipino women!

Yes I know it is called living vicariously, but this way I get some of the fun but little of the heartache and I stay married.

And you CAN try this at home. Have a great weekend.