Andy's not around this weekend, so Jon and I met today (Saturday) on Woodmansterne Green. It's been a while since I've been over that way, but I was only planning on a short cycle today so it fitted the bill nicely.
The weathermen had promised rain from around lunchtime and then two excellent, sunny days tomorrow and Bank Holiday Monday, so here's hoping; although normally they get it slightly out of alignment, meaning, perhaps, that we'll get the rain throughout the night, a wet start tomorrow and then a nice, sunny day. If this is the case, I could get a soaking as my bike has no mudguards!
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Peace protesters? Nope, children from the local churches in
and around Woodmansterne learning what it's like to be
homeless and living rough. They gave us a doughnut. |
Back to today and as we approached Woodmansterne Green it looked as if a bunch of peace protestors had set up camp on the green. There were bits of old cardboard and other make-shift accommodation making lean-to style shelter for people – a bit like that bloke on Parliament Square. Or so it seemed... Closer inspection found the inhabitants of this cardboard city to be children and a couple of adults. I figured it was something to do with the local schools, but it turned out to be the church and a group of young kids learning what it's like to sleep rough and be homeless.
They camped out all night, according to a white-haired church-goer who, very kindly, provided Jon and I with a doughnut each. I spent the ride home wishing I hadn't accepted the stodgy foodstuff, but what is done is done, I figured, and started pedalling a little more vigorously in to burn off the accumulated fat on the six-mile jaunt home.
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| Time to go home. Jon, ready to head for home. |
While on the green, Jon and I discussed our usual subject, that of winning loads of money and retiring to the south coast where we'd do absolutely nothing – apart from cycling on the beach at low tide. It hasn't happened yet, in case you were wondering, and probably never will – and now it definitely won't happen because, by writing it down, sub-consciously my brain was saying 'say it won't happen and it will' but because I am aware of that thought, it turns into a kind of inward and very conscious double bluff. In fact, now that I've written
that down, I'm aware of what I was originally doing (setting myself up for a win along the lines of 'And there was me this morning saying it would never happen') I'll definitely not win now. And there, that does it, I'm going on about it, so I'll be forever poor and yes, I know, I shouldn't have said that either...or that...or that 'or that'...or that...
Jon's knee problem has gone and he admitted that going out for a run was definitely not a good idea. I told him it couldn't possibly be the cycling.
Doughnuts finished, tea drank, we headed off home, me fretting about that doughnut (next time it'll be 'oh, no, not for me, thanks all the same') and Jon dreaming about his lazy, millionaire's life on the south coast.
Stop press: at the time of writing now (1056hrs) the rain has started so I guess the weathermen were right this time and, fortunately, Jon and I got back just in time!
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