Monday 22nd May 2023, 3:30 pm
I spent time trimming the bushes in the front garden of my brother’s house yesterday. Does that count as forest bathing?
I know the answer to that is no, of course, but it was as close to it as I could get over the weekend and it was at least a little bit therapeutic, even if I did feel a little sad at the thought of disturbing the insects and whatever else lives in the bushes.
It’s another warm day here in Liverpool, after a warm weekend. I bumped into a friend who works over the road as I was on my way to buy a KitKat earlier and we had a good summer time in the Baltic Triangle chat. Those chance encounters on the street and stopping for a chat has been a feature of all the summers that I’ve worked here.
(10 years! I’ve just realised that I’ve been working here in the Baltic Triangle for 10 years, almost exactly. The first office I had here, Studio D, is over the corridor from the studio in which I’m typing this. The office is in a double shed. I put a little bench outside it and a foldable table and chair set from Ikea and had some little bushes that died after a month. It was my first office in the city and I felt equally terrified and excited and like I’d somehow made it when we moved in.)
He showed me the bike he’s giving to me, which I’m collecting tomorrow. It’s a classic red Raleigh racer and matches the bike that he found for Max a couple of years back. I have visions of the pair of us riding around Walton together in the summer and finding trees to climb. Then we’ll witness a train crash whilst shooting a film and an alien will escape from one of the train cars. Our entire summer will then involve finding out what happened and there will probably be some secretive scientific organisation hot on our tails. Can’t wait.
I’m excited at the prospect of having a bike again.
I’m also excited about an evening with Max later. We’re going to play Zelda and then just as I get into it, Max will take himself and the Nintendo Switch outside to play it on the step with his friends. I’m less excited about that last bit.
I’ve been considering whether or not to spend a little time cleaning my yard this evening, too. I have three water pistols to put away, some brushing up to do, and a table and chairs to wipe clean. I should probably plan some things to plant out there this summer too so that there are places for insects to live. The insects attract the birds. A yard habitat paradise.
Where am I going to put a bike?!
Maybe I could make a little covered bike store out there? A building project for me and my Dad over the Summer, maybe.
My Dad is on holiday in Porto with his mates this week. I hope he’s having a cold glass of beer or vinho verde as I type this. I’ll wait till he gets home to ask him about bike storage solutions, though. Want him to have a mind free of building tasks as he wanders Porto. What a good son, eh?
Right, I’m rambling and it’s almost time for me to head off to get my lad. Goodbye.
This is part of a series that I’m writing over the next year, documenting the Year of Action campaign, and some of the things I’m doing to take action in 2023. #2023yearofaction
