OK, when I say dark times, I’m not getting all “Lord of the Rings”. I’m meaning simply that its January and February when most small animals are resting in the warm and “developed” species like ours are able to carry on working productively.
So, not much adventure to report, to be honest. I’ve spent several weekends and evenings, prepping the house, taking clutter to the charity shop and generally getting organised.
As it says in Don’t sweat the small stuff, on the day you die there will be things to do in your in tray.
That’s fine, but I want to use most of this years free time to go adventuring, and its easier to do that, if you dont have something nagging in the back of your head, that a cupboard needs clearing out or a pension fund needs transferring.
As part of my routine, I checked over all my equipment, oiled and sharpened penknives, checked the contents of first aid kits and just as important, check the stitching and suchlike on rucsascks and boots.
Once that was done, Nikki and I spent several weekends brainstorming this years adventures, culminating in a 2 day “hot house” session last weekend.
We’ve booked more than 8 weekends away in the UK, 4 days to do Hadrians wall, 5 days in Portsmouth and overseas trips to Morocco, Sicily and Namibia.,
On top of that, we’ve arranged to go and see multiple talks, comedians, trips to the theatre and films for the times in between when we cant get away.,
I still expect to do even more than this, but it’s a framework to get started.
Our next planned adventure, is a trip to the Snake Pass in for valentines weekend and 2 days of walking in the Peak District.
I first visited there some years ago with Lee, Mac, Caz and my brother David. I remember we played football down by a stream, then we all had Coke in the pub (I mean Coca Cola, none of us drank then, and the only hard drugs I saw in my youth were on the tv).
Inside they had black and white pictures from the 70’s when the pass was snowed in, and everyone was stranded in the pub for several days (apparently, they had to break up chairs and tables for the fire, to keep warm).
Well, all these years later I’m going back, and I’m really looking forward to it.
It’s also that time of year again, when my friend Tony comes around and ends up standing in front of a cream coloured wall in my house.
He sought my help on another adventure trip, this time to India and Nepal, and on top of other assistance, we had to get him a visa so it involved emailing pictures to the embassy.
From everyone here at johnsunter.com, we wish Tony and his friend a good time on their trip, which should give them plenty of chance to practice swearing.