Lost Weekend

"In what way lost?" I hear you ask. Well it's gone isn't it? Lost forever? It just sounded good. Don't be so picky.

This weekend's roller coaster ride got off to a fairly quiet start. On Friday Peter and I had a notion that we might go and do a long run. I was so tired when I got up though. And he wasn't much better. We just gave in to it. I don't think I made it out of my pyjamas. Oh well. We could do a long run on Saturday.

Saturday my new phone arrived. I have been stubbornly resisting the trend towards smarter and smarter phones for some time. I have stuck with my old phone that doesn't take photos and can't go on-line. But I saw one that was pretty cheap on Amazon and I thought I would get it.

It gave me a very hard time at first. It kept spending my money, even though I hadn't made a phone call. I eventually figured out it was because it was downloading data on the phone network and charging me handsomely for it too. Now I'm getting to quite like it and filling it up with essential apps. Anyway, the point of telling you that was that I got caught up in trying to figure out the phone, so we ended up not leaving the house until about 1pm for our run. We drove to Longniddry and set off from there, figuring we'd run to North Berwick and get a train back. About 8 miles into the run, however, the wind unexpectedly switched up on us and so we reconsidered and turned around at that point. It would save us the train fares and a potential wait at the station. The ground was soft, though, and the going was tough. It was unexpectedly warm and muggy.

We arrived back at the car at 6pm. Not ideal really as we were supposed to be at a party at 7.30. This is a rare occurrence, but I think there might be a spate of 50th birthdays coming up. We made it shortly after 8 and were by no means the latest. It was out in Pencaitland so I was staying sober and driving.

It was a bit sobering, although it isn't news to me that I'm kind of nearly 50. Still, it's surreal. We sat around trying to talk and grumbling that the music was too loud. I saw some old pals and we talked about how we hadn't seen each other for more than 20 years and tried to figure out what we were doing then. A lot more drinking, that's for sure. Somebody's husband told me about the tax system in Switzerland. Apparently there are three taxes. There's a national tax, which isn't too much - and then there's a tax for your county, and then a larger tax for your village. Everyone gets together and decides what to spend it on. New litter bins mostly...ahah, no, that's stereotyping.

We pushed the boat out and stayed until 11 anyway and then I gave my old friend Jennifer a lift home to Musselburgh. She astonished me by dredging up a memory of the two of us sitting at a party a long time ago feeling that there wasn't enough happening and singing - can you believe it - "If I met you on a Monday a Monday a Monday I know I would be BORED..." You get the format. I think we kept it up for a while. I couldn't remember it but I knew it was true. Rather than something as concrete as memory it was more like the faded pattern on an old carpet which I felt I recognised from somewhere. A slither of deja vu. "They" say it's all stored away in there somewhere, but I don't know if it is. Your brain forms new connections so presumably the old connections get broken. That's assuming that memories are stored in the brain. There are other people who think your  brain is just a receiving set for tuning into bits of reality and as time is an illusion, everything is happening NOW and always will be. So Jennifer and I are still singing that song. And why whoever was having the party didn't sling us out I will never know. Maybe they were drunker than us.

Sunday came around and I was frankly exhausted from having been up so late. We mooched around and went out a recovery run in the afternoon. My new mudclaws had arrived so I took them out up the Almond and round the airport run to get a bit used to them before the Goatfell Hill race on Saturday. My legs felt tired and rusty and hot. PB darted around chasing butterflies and I kept a slow and steady lope going. I do hope I am going to feel somehow refreshed before the marathon, but I'm not sure if I will.

So today is the last day of my holidays and I am procrastinating. There are a few acts of cleaning and tidying I have been intending to do which can't be put off any longer. I've been a run round the Seat in the wild wind and I saw Ivor Normand and Anne Hay while I was out. I'd like to tell you my legs were fresh, but they weren't. Maybe going back to work will sort them out.

So I have a hot tip that if you dilute fabric conditioner in 9 parts water and use it for dusting it stops all the dust immediately flying back and sticking on things because of the static. I'm off to try it out. The other thing I want to do is to try and drill a hole in the bottoms of some of our race mugs and turn them into little plant pots. We've got far too many race mugs and we can't bear to throw them out...