I am sat at Birmingham airport, awaiting departure to Dubai. Flight Number 1 of our 31 day adventure. There is an eclectic mix of travellers all condensed together,
Their reasons for travel intrigue me… I try and work out firstly, their relationships with the persons they travel with. Are they mother son, husband wife, boyfriend girlfriend, and then, what is their purpose of travel. Are they visiting their families, judging at dogs shows (ha ha, that’s me) or maybe, just getting away from it all.
We watch children scamper about, I don’t have children of my own but am entertained by others. The entertainment has been forced upon myself, by myself. If I wasn’t entertained, I would be annoyed. Years ago, I decided that being annoyed by things outside of my control was a worthless exercise, it wastes energy. I let go of negative and destructive feelings towards the brats that made a noise, and learnt to be entertained by their endless energy and volume. Not even Lala, my one Norwich Terrier, makes a noise like some children, the pitch and ferocity of scream can be quite amazing and where on earth do they find their energy, where indeed. Sugar? Pure zest for life? Who knows, but I would surely love some of it.
The children scamper about, one toddler has just spent 30 seconds or so, attempting to work out my feet. I am sat typing this on the benches lining the corridor alongside the boarding gate. My feet ache if I sit with them down for too long so I am resting them, shoeless on my case. In all fairness they are probably head height for this little person who is attempting to work out, with a slight smile on his face, what these things, hanging over the edge of the case, are. I watch him and he watches my feet. His mother stands back and allows him his space, she sees me smile, we catch each others eye and silently acknowledge her son as he explores the world around him, he then looks at me, and runs off.
The innocence of childhood is great. I can remember a time without adulting being present. Modern life and all its concerns somewhat steals our innocence.
Staying young at heart is , I feel, quite the quality to have, quite the state of mind to hold dear to our core. Carrying out the mundane tasks like paying the mortgage and selling a kidney to pay the gas bill, are all things we, as grownups have to do but these things are all made better if we can keep a fun element to them. Fun to me is laughing at ourselves and being self effacing, I shall google that word to ensure it’s the right one for this context.
Yes, that is the right word, phew!
Our plane is boarding, they want areas seating areas D and E only, I think we are C so we can sit for longer and I can keep typing. My thoughts drift back to home and the jobs done that morning before leaving… I keep a plant pot outside the front gate, it looks pretty (when I remember to water it) About 8 weeks ago I purchased some new plants to repot it. The plants have sat outside the gate by the pot since purchase. One of our Team, who comes to help look after the dogs, repeatedly said “I will do that pot when you go away”.
The below is pictorial evidence of my attempts to be a gardener at 7am on our morning of departure! it was fun planting up the pot, fun indeed…
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