Category: Cautionary tales

In which we are entirely surrounded by water

21 April 2018

The peculiar heatwave that began on the night of the RR10 and baked us in thirty degree heat on our walk to Hamble continued for the next couple of days. It had all my running friends a little worried. The Southampton and London marathons were coming up. Everyone had trained in nothing but cold wetness. This morning weather warnings were posted. Marathon day was going to be hot, possibly hotter that the record breaking marathon day in 1996 when temperatures hit 22.7C. Heat is never a good thing when you’re running a marathon. Thunderstorms and heavy showers were forecast for this afternoon too but nothing could have prepared us for what actually happened.  Continue reading In which we are entirely surrounded by water

Fire, demolition and disaster

10 March 2018

There aren’t many things sadder than a fire in a bookshop. Just after midday on  6 March the large Waterstones store in Above Bar caught fire. The city centre was brought to a standstill by thick black smoke as thousands of pounds worth of beautiful books burned. I wasn’t there but I saw a video on Facebook and felt like crying.  Continue reading Fire, demolition and disaster

A snowy walk of the walls

1 March 2018

In the battle between parks and walls the walls won. The snow seemed to be getting harder so staying close to nice warm shops and cafes seemed the sensible thing to do. The precinct was almost deserted. All the really sensible people were probably in WestQuay enjoying the warm and dry. We walked past and headed straight for Bargate. There was less snow than I’d hoped but the medieval gateway stood on an island of white with flurries of fat flakes fluttering all around it.  Continue reading A snowy walk of the walls

Two bridges lite

4 January 2018

The first proper walk of 2018, if you don’t count lots of dashing about shopping or wandering around the Old Cemetery in the mud, was a version of Commando’s two bridge challenge. Frankly, at under four miles, it wasn’t much of a challenge but it was the first ‘just for the sake of walking’ walk of the year and there were swans, mud and some climbing that probably wouldn’t have seemed half as bad if I’d had breakfast before I went out.   Continue reading Two bridges lite

The importance of trees

28 September 2017

Last week one of the Deep Dene trees fell, crushed a car, damaged a house and completely blocked the road for the whole day. It happened during the morning rush hour. By some miracle no one was hurt. Commando heard about it on the radio and sent me a message to warn me in case I was planning on walking that way. As I had to go to the village anyway I decided to take a detour and asses the damage.  Ok, I’ll be honest, it was completely out of my way but I’m nosey.   Continue reading The importance of trees

Not finding things in Telegraph Woods

14 September 2017

This morning began with a trip to the dentist. Nice as everyone is there, it really isn’t my favourite place in the world so I thought I’d cheer myself up with a little detour on the way home. Usually I turn left when I leave the dentist and head west towards the river. This time I turned right and then immediately right again onto Upper New Road, not entirely sure where it would lead me but happy just to walk and find out. How lost could I get? Continue reading Not finding things in Telegraph Woods

Winnall Moors, a missing Pond and some nettles

3 September 2017

The Winchester Half Marathon route is particularly hilly. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem for Commando but these are not normal times by any stretch of the imagination. He wasn’t satisfied with his performance at the last pacer’s training run. Worried he was going to let down the people who’d be running with him hoping for a PB he decided to give it one more try on his own. This meant another chance for me to wander around Winchester on a Sunday morning.  Continue reading Winnall Moors, a missing Pond and some nettles

Summer tales from the Old Cemetery

13 June 2017

For Commando, one of the hardest things about being ill, apart from the uncertainty about what is wrong with him, has been not being able to run. The consultant Rheumatologist he saw last week didn’t give him a definitive diagnosis but he did give him a steroid injection and told him he could begin to run again as long as his legs were pain free. In fact, he said exercise was a good thing. On Saturday he ambled around parkrun. It was far slower than he’d have liked but it was a run. This evening he decided to go to the Common and have another run on his own. CJ and I went along for a walk as there have been precious few of those lately. Continue reading Summer tales from the Old Cemetery

Travel, Toronto and a comedy of errors

9 May 2017

Today was mostly taken up with travelling. This morning Commando woke with swollen and painful hands and a feverish feeling. His leg was still hurting but with the help of the Tylenol, he was able to walk. It seemed to me to be the work of some kind of virus rather than anything to do with the trip in Stanley Park. He limped down to Starbucks for a breakfast of croissant and yogurt parfait. Later we took a taxi to the airport where we sat around waiting for our flight. All the while I was keeping a rather nervous eye on him. He hobbled onto the plane. Five hours later he hobbled back off again. Along the way we’d lost three hours to the time change but at least we hadn’t lost our luggage. We were back to the disoriented jet lag thing again though.  Continue reading Travel, Toronto and a comedy of errors

You teach the best the things you most need to learn – first published 18 July 2014

In mid July 2014 we knew Commando Senior was not long for this world. Every time my phone rang it felt like a harbinger of doom. Each night Commando would pop in to his father’s little house on the way to work to check on him. He’d phone me afterwards to let me know he was still alive. Each night he seemed to be getting weaker, further away from this world and closer to the next one. When Commando called me on my mobile at work one sunny Tuesday morning I thought the worst. There is more than one kind of worst though… Continue reading You teach the best the things you most need to learn – first published 18 July 2014