Going Gently

One Day

A quiet day , it’s cold tonight,

So cold that I’ve made butter bean and chorizo soup

And cold enough for Bun to knee sit

Watching Zulu Dawn

Humm preferred Zulu

Where’s Nigel Green when you needed him

Date

I told you I had been on a sort of date yesterday.

It was an impromptu meeting arranged after a brief and light social media conversation.

And unlike that awful last date I had after Covid

( 2 hours of my life I will never get back in one lifetime)

I enjoyed chatting with this new guy for over two hours.

He was attractive, obviously bright, somewhat serious but interesting

And for the first time, in a long while I thought I’d like to chat to him again.

As we left the cafe, he turned and gave me a hug and suddenly I read the room

I felt as though I had come to the end of an interview, where I was told subtlety I hadn’t got the job

And a good natured goodbye, had just been issued.

A text later confirmed my non verbal cue

And although I’m not beating myself ( or him) up for anything

I do feel a little deflated today

Hey ho

Pride

A gay dad explains Pride to his son

Nothing else needs saying

There’s nothing sadder than a damp Drag Queen

I went to Prestatyn Pride to support.

Sometimes you forget how parochial the coastal towns are in their thinking, but several comments on the event’s Facebook page reinforced to me, attitudes I thought went out in the 1990 s.

Last night I found myself answering questions like

Why can’t there be straight Pride?

What’s it teaching our kids ?

And finally

Why do you gays need to celebrate having sex?

( chance would be a fine thing)

The parade was led by a very uncomfortable looking mayor and his droopy flag, and comprised of around sixty people, which is a start I suppose. A local pub had organised the days’ entertainment , and the place looked crowded enough.

Sadly it pissed down

Janet met me and Roger to watch. And I’m now sat in the storyhouse in Chester on a sort of date

Unexpected and welcomed

Hey ho

Moon River

The West Cheshire Hospital in Chester was the old asylum. Before that it was called Diva, the Roman word for the city. Essentially it comprised of the main 1829 Georgian building with scores of satellite two story wards connected by brick built corridors which gave visitors the sense that you were in fact underground.Those corridors were long and dark a creepy and as a student nurse, I negotiated them always in a hurry.

One night, after 8 pm, in winter, I was walking up that corridor from Whitby ward, when I heard singing. A woman was singing Moon River gently to herself somewhere ahead of me. The voice was elderly and faltering, but because of the acoustics had a certain emotional power to it and every time I turned a corner I expected to see a patient , who was probably late for curfew, walking back to her ward.

But I saw no one

I just heard the voice always a little way ahead

Two drifters off to see the world,

There’s such a lot of world to see

We’re after the same rainbows end

Waiting round the bend

My Huckleberry friend

Moon River

And me”

And it stopped when I reached the main corridor and the sliding green door which lead to the nurses home, beyond the Church.

Doggy hugs and The FLOWER SHOW ( not forgetting the novelty vegetable photograph)

It’s that time again readers The Flower And Produce Show is only 8 weeks away., please join us in entering any class you want , but especially join in with the international novelty vegetable photo section

Your photos can be sent to me Via email to jgsheffield@icloud.com