What Would Your Mother Say?


I watched a video of some of the far right so called football lads protesters crossing Hyde Park today.
I was reminded of that terrible footage of the chimps in Jane Goodall's documentary of a few years back as one domineering tribe attacked another more peaceful group of apes
These men/boys acting as animals
Obviously harnessing and enjoying the aphrodisiac qualities of anger and excitement a score of  young men stamped and pushed and spat on people sat in the sunshine

All I wanted to say to each one of them
Face to face
Eye to eye
For what it's worth
" Your Mother Would Be very proud of you"


The Old Queen Asserts Herself


Like the Queen Mary on her final voyage to California, Winnie has continued to steam about in the background of cottage life at a slow sedately pace.
Most afternoons she is able to walk the hundred yards or so to Trendy Carol's garden , where she ignores the warm shade of the privet, favouring more the comfy sofa in her all glass conservatory.
But that is as much as she does now, and remains tired enough not to leave the cottage on longer walks or even for lengthy trips in the car.
But sometimes the old girl gets a certain glint in her eye
And this is where a sense of devilment seems to overtakes her
It's a quiet humour that's often perfectly timed
Almost as if Miriam Margolyes has taken over her body in a comedy vignette


Today, quite unexpectedly she decided to come to bed with me after shift.
Now she has not done this for months and months, preferring to sit in the reading chair in the kitchen or on the couch in the living room but after several deep breaths she plodded up their staircase  with all the finesse of Big Daddy from Cat On A Hot Tin Roof  and kicked open the bedroom door with one mighty swing of a forepaw.
With dramatic effect she stood in the doorway waiting for a reaction
What do you want ? I asked her , not playing her game, and the old girl schlepped on the antique wooden floorboards until she faced the bed without glancing at me at all.
Here she sat thinking
She thinks a great deal
All bulldogs do.
Finally, and with much effort she placed both front paws on the bedrame and jumped with a loud grunt.
Mary was bright enough to have already moved out of the way of a dog the size of the Queen of Tonga landing on the duvet but Dorothy being rather challenged in the intelligence stakes lay in a direct trajectory and as Winnie landed she booted Dorothy to one side like a miniature football.
And there she stayed, spent and content.
I slept to the right of her, my head on my pillow next to her head on hers.
A massive paw rested against my shoulder rather tenderly
Both of us snoring like pigs in warm mud.
Mary, Dotty and finally Albert squished in the base of the bed as best they could
As the old Queen rested in her bulldog sleep,
Secure she had made all of her decisions herself,
Perhaps for one final time

Whatever Floats Your Boat and Tickles Your Fancy Mister!!

The first gay card I received back in 1989 from Nu

So what's it like being 58, gay and single?

The question was posed by an interested heterosexual male in his 40s
and it was a question of depth by someone with a brain

Like general life, being gay, single and in my sixth decade has its challenges for sure, but typical of us gays sex is the least of our problems as thanks to the internet and apps galore it is more than easy to find a suitable bed fellow if you so need one.

Men in general and gay men in particular seem to have varying rules when it comes down to sex.
Many ( and more than I expected to be honest) aspire to The Cake And Eat It Brigade
These are generally successful men who have a partner on their arm, some trendy furniture and a get out clause which says ( and sometimes often unsaid) that you can shag around if the mood takes you.  Often there is a caveat here....which literally says don't shit on your own doorstep, but the rules are there ....do it but Don't talk about it !!!!
I am not sure I respect the Cake and eat it Brigade as much as I do the let's all get on shag fest going Brigade. At least if you share a third person or fourth  or whatever your need is , it all open and above board with everyone knowing what the job in hand is.
I don't think my esteem could cope with The Shag Fest Brigade
I was always chosen last for games at school and in most theeesomes , one person is always on the periphery so to speak.

Then you have the App Queens, Now these vary considerably and have too many categories to list here with any detail but suffice to say every guy from 99% straight to 100% gay will be there. Some showing their face, some just teasing with a body shot at the gym that hides their identity from boyfriends, girlfriends, work, or whoever!
The anonymous ones who say they are 45 when they are well over 50 lie far too easily
In many cases a lot of these guys lie too easily.
The app encourages it.
Save for the desperate
But they are another story not for today

I'm not a prude, nor am I judging too much as the rule is that it's each to their own in the ways of the heart.
I even considered an open marriage for a while before common sense took over and I realised just wanting it is the death knell of that lovely warm feeling monogamy always gave me.

And so , I am concentrating on friends at the moment and my gay friend quota is up a few 100% s this last year alone which is not bad given lockdown.
Having said this one friend Colin has become  a real tonic through the lockdown isolation as he lives in England and our conversations over video and messenger during the long nights that singletons often experience have eased the isolation a great deal.r
Psychotherapist Jon who I met in Sitges last year remains a dear friend as does mave the rave and recently a blind "date" arranged by a work colleague with Fernando the Ecuadorean hotel manager proved to be a hilarious lesson  in social distancing and cultural differences.
I feel as though I've met an  amigo!!!


So, to sum up, what is it like to be single, gay and 58? I'll say
It's complicated, for sure. At times it's  lonely that's another given. Other times it is what it is!..you just have to get on with it.
Single and over 50 gets you judged, probably more than just being gay does nowadays.
''Tis the way of the world
But over all I think I have a clear sense of self amid the bullshit that goes along with the gay world, a world that is rather less forgiving of its seniors than most I may add

5 Questions


A blog romp
Five Questions

  1. What's your Name?
  2. Where do you live?
  3. Why do you follow Going Gently ?
  4. Say three things you like about yourself 
  5. What is your favourite movie?

Gardening


A burst water main in the village caused much consternation on the village what's app group last night as everyone's water pressure disappeared before toilets could be flushed and showers taken .
The lane became a river with the water forcing itself skywards and coursing past the cottage towards the felin
The water board turned up eventually and It would seem that everyone on this side of the village were woken by pneumatic drills and heavy machinery at 4 am
I was too
And finally returned to bed at eleven am for a snooze.



This afternoon with help from my sister , the front garden has been fully replanted with plants .
Blue and white agapanthus , blue salvia, gold rubekkia, foxgloves, hostas and pink geranium
It's a work in progress but will look quite lovely once the burnt grass returns and the new plants grow to fill their new positions.
I feel that something positive has been done today even though I did rip the arse out of my sweatpants  watering the planters
The front garden will look very different than it once did
Another important step towards turning the cottage into my own
Now I'm watching a sad antiques show, as it's raining hard
Dorothy is licking my tired feet



cinema

Renata Vanni centre


I do miss my cinema
Today is a nothing kind of day after night shift
So it would be common that  I would treat myself to an afternoon's film watching
The Storyhouse in Chester
Something thought provoking with a proper coffee accompaniment
I haven't been to the cinema in an age!!!

I've had to make due with Westward The Women on TCM which is Wagon train western crossed with Tenko.. 
The best performance was by Renata Vanni , who never spoke a word of English during the movie.
My tea is bit of chicken breast wrapped in salmon with sprigs of basil

I've cleaned the cottage ,washed sheets and hung them on the field gate to dry as Trendy Carol watched the dogs.
Tomorrow is my only day off with no work this week and I've earmarked the day for finishing the garden planting

The Great British Sewing Bee tonight I hope Claire and Mark stay in




Sparrow

There is a crack above the front door
Hidden away in the honeysuckle
An electricity cable runs into the cottage
And a sparrow shuffles away on her eggs far inside.
It's driven Albert and Mary bananas today.
As the faint scrape of wings on stone echo around the living room like whispers.
The animals'  anticipation is electric and has woken me a few times during the day.with its screaming stress

I've just got up,
Eaten a punnet of tiny tomatos
Then I've returned to bed with a pillow over my head

Resignation


I caught up with Chic Eleanor this morning for a 2 metre coffee
She apologised again for being in her scruffs 
But swirled a beautiful silk scarf around her neck as she frothed up the hot milk
Darling John ! What is your news? She purred
I told her that I had just resigned from Samaritans
That is where we had met several years ago now
Eleanor understood immediately my reasons now for resigning.
She herself is a part time counsellor

I have no reserves left for Samaritans to utilise
I say that without drama but with a little regret
Working for the charity had provided me an outlet for a set of skills I was under utilising in life.
I was a husband, a hobby smallerholder, a very part time ITU nurse and needed the challenge working on the call lines can give.
And I was a Good Samaritan
If you can forgive the phrase....

But I recognise I have no reserves to give to the charity anymore.
My priority is my work
And my major priority is myself

I suggested to Eleanor that we meet with another couple of mutual Sam friends very soon. A socially distant picnic of West Shore with wine and laughter  and she twirled her imaginary pashmina in delight
Darling John, that would be absolute perfection! 

She always has the ability to make the mundane sound delightfully grand