22 September 2020

Socialisation

Coffika - Ecclesall Road, Sheffield

Lovely weather again yesterday. Here in the wilds of northern England we have enjoyed a fortnight of golden days as Summer reluctantly passes her baton to Autumn. I would have been out walking somewhere - plodding along yet  more miles of public footpath and quiet lane.  However, socialisation got in the way.

At ten in the morning we met up with four other sixty somethings in "Coffika" - a refurbished coffee shop on Ecclesall Road. We didn't leave there till just before midday. There were Frances's in-laws - Cheryl and Pedr and old friends Linda and David. We rabbited away happily and at one point I was prompted to tell the story of my brother Paul's death in 2010, including the traditional Irish wake and the funeral phases. Ten years and it still seems like a dream.  Why can't I speak to him on the telephone?

There was a three hour gap before the next event listed on my crammed social calendar. In that gap I ate a peppered salami and cucumber sandwich and visited a picture framery to arrange the framing of a tea poster that Frances and Stewart brought back from their honeymoon in Sri Lanka. It will be her thirty second  birthday present yet  in spite of the quoted price, the frame will not be crafted from precious metal. Ah well, you're only thirty two once.

Three o'clock found me in the beer garden of "The Hammer and Pincers" waiting for Mick, Mike and Danny. Another two hours of happy conversation lubricated not by coffee but  by foaming pints of Stones best bitter. I have been meeting up regularly with Mick and Mike for twenty five years now. Ex-policeman Danny is a more recent addition and he's nice enough. It's good to be at ease with people you like - just being yourself as the talk flows along like a Peak District stream. Nothing to prove.

I rode home on the 88 bus with my face covered and as usual prepared the evening meal - slices of Sunday's roasted pork in gravy with mashed potato, green beans, roasted courgette cubes and of course the pièce de résistance - Yorkshire puddings that I had saved in our freezer.

It is now six fifty on Tuesday morning and unlike yesterday my social diary is blessedly empty. Shirley will be working all day and the weather forecast is again benign  so it's a great opportunity to ramble on my own once more. I will be driving over the hills to Glossop and plodding a few miles south of there. Socialisation is all very well and good but you cannot beat your own company and the undulations of your private thoughts.
"The Hammer and Pincers" in past times before suburban growth
absorbed it into the city. Once it stood by a toll road in glorious isolation.

22 comments:

  1. I like the Hammers and Pincers black and white photograph. Good name for an ale house.

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    Replies
    1. Better than "The Aquilegia and Sedum"?

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  2. What was the coffee house old name? I remember going regularly but have forgotten

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    Replies
    1. I believe it was called "Couch".

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    2. No it was an Italian name before couch

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    3. I will ask Shirley tomorrow.

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  3. Make the most of socialisation, YP. It could all coming crashing down to staying at home again soon. I have a couple of social visits with friends in next week or so before I am shut back in my solitary cage.

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    Replies
    1. Sing along:-

      She's only a bird in a gilded cage,
      A beautiful sight to see,
      You may think she's happy and free from care,
      She's not, though she seems to be,

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  4. Whilst I agree that to have time to think all by, and for, yourself on your walks, I'd like to ask you what about cross fertilization? Discussion, discourse? Exchange of ideas? You can't do that by yourself. In that respect I have lived, the last few years more than ever, the most extraordinary life. Overspill.

    We need others (not to talk about the weather) but to actually raise our eyes to vistas that even those with the most vivid imagination may miss.

    To put it another way, no cows mentioned, I am that horse which, if led to water, WILL drink. Just don't poison me.

    U

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You raise a good point about cross-fertilisation. Nonetheless, having spent thirty eight years in a job that involved endless talk, I still find much solace in the quietness of my own company.

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  5. I have almost no socialization these days beside a visit now and then with children and grandchildren. It's to the point where I am afraid I'll never be able to enjoy the company of others again. It scares me.

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    Replies
    1. After COVID has been suppressed and normal life is resumed, there will be instructional YouTube videos - teaching us how to socialise properly again.
      LESSON ONE: How to Greet People
      How do you do. My name is Mary. It is so nice to see you.

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  6. That's a lot of socializing! I wonder where the expression "rabbited away" comes from? Do rabbits talk a lot? Framing is ridiculously expensive everywhere, it seems.

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    Replies
    1. The poster is an unusual size so I couldn't get a ready made frame and also I am having it "dry lined" which means it will not ripple. With regard to "rabbit" I believe it comes from cockney rhyming slang. "Rabbit and pork" means "talk".

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  7. Well, you get those busy social days by being a social butterfly. Well, maybe not. The next day you enjoyed by being out on your own.

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  8. For my mental wellbeing, I need to balance out both - the socialising and what is often referred to as 'me-time'. I love people and, if in the right mood, can be the life and soul of a party. But I can just as well spend an entire day with nobody but myself for company. And you already know how I feel about walking on my own.
    Your meetings sound thoroughly enjoyable, and I imagine a lot of exchange went on at both, but I can fully understand that you were looking forward to a quiet day on your own today.

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    Replies
    1. You can be the life and soul of the party? Now I am imagining you dancing on a table wit a bottle of Jack Daniels in your hand singing "On Ilkley Moor"!

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  9. What a busy and enjoyable day! I enjoyed hearing about it. Here it is rare for us to see anyone other than at medical appointments. I love the picture of the original "Hammer and Pincers".

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    Replies
    1. It's nice when you can feel comfortable with other people and just be yourself. I was in top form yesterday!

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  10. They are lovely 'glorious isolated' cottages in the middle of nowhere. But then no electricity, no tapped water, sanitary conditions probably non-existent - the times were not so good ;)

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