Onwards in retirement. I have no doubt that many of you will find my combination of the death of Queen Elizabeth and my colonoscopy as vaguely disrespectful or unpatriotic and for which I apologise but it’s hardly my fault that my appointment coincided with her death. After all I had my appointment booked in first and it’s not as if I didn’t try and cancel my appointment several times. So it is what it is.
I have to say that my thoughts are with the family of any one whose relative dies. But all the pomp and circumstance has always left me a little indifferent, embarrassed even at times. Sorry but there it is. I felt the same way with all the national weeping at the time of Princess Diana’s death. Sorry you died but such things happen.
I won’t say my colonoscopy carries with it the same finality, at least not yet. I can’t say because the final results aren’t in yet because they couldn’t get a clear image. I’ll just say mea culpa and leave it at that. The result is I have to do it all over again and that is the worst possible result because, as those of you who have experience of such matters (not an unreasonable assumption that there will be, given the target audience of this blog) will know, it’s very unpleasant.
So after that tasteless introduction let me remind myself that I said I wasn’t going to write about health-related matters at least for a while and yet here I am doing just that. So where do I go from here?
It’s hard to avoid the Queen in the ‘proper’ papers if looking for writing inspiration, but the colour supplement offered plenty in the way of diversion /ideas. Having complained a while ago about the lack of articles focusing on the older demographic now you can’t move for them. Saturday’s Guardian writing about older people (in their nineties in two cases) becoming influencers on Tik Tok for various things (dancing for example – not my thing but well good luck to him).
Ironic really given a recent blog about us becoming influencers. And I thought we were getting above ourselves and there were these even older gits strutting their stuff one way or another. And, as I say, plenty more stuff to get away from the Royalty vibe – Brett Morgan a film maker (about David Bowie) who had a heart attack at 49; George Martin’s son remixing the Revolver album: an interview with Nick Cave, songwriter, performer and bereaved father; speech writing; the history of Empire (about which I learned a version in school, but not this one from a black perspective, and ‘to which every Briton is tethered’ and an Agatha Christie spoof. So plenty of interest and varied.
But I can’t keep away from my health even with all these options. Just to say that as Mrs Summerhouse said recently, I need a diary purely for my medical appointments. A year ago the dates I was writing in my diary were to do with social events and even musical gigs or rehearsals. But that is not the case now.
I could write about impending musical events assuming I’ve missed them enough to want to start again with the sometimes quite demanding effort that goes with them. Folk Fiddle started last Thursday night but I didn’t go because of the preparations as above. Next Sunday is the first jazz workshop. So not too long before my retirement diary has dates of a somewhat more pleasant although still challenging nature.
Onwards in retirement summary
So feeling a bit worn out after all my medical trauma of last week, a slow weekend. If I can get through the next couple of health-related weeks I’m planning to restore some kind of balance of normality to my retirement life and our country. Won’t that be nice?
PS. I have no clear idea of what this blog is about, it’s a jumble which you could say neatly represents the state of my mind maybe even my retirement life as a whole right now.