December | 2023 | Gray Summers

David Mitchell’s ‘Utopia Avenue’. Read once a few years back. I never remember books I have read due to my condition of Aphantasia. I do remember a general feel of the experience in that I either loved them or was indifferent to them. This one I loved. As is the norm with this amazing author’s books. Reading it now? 2/3 in and so nearly finished. I get to be surprised all over again. Bliss.

Music, Reading and Fountain Pens/Ink are the current three ‘passing the time’ themes to end this year. Two choices regarding pens and guitar involve activity, learning and investigation of a gentle kind. The third, books, are simply the act of escaping. Blogging could be considered a fourth. But that is like the simple act of writing diary entries. Ergo…..Reflections and bad grammar.

Full on with the Diamine ink choices presently. Have very many smaller 30 ml bottle colour choices too.

Reflections from the past year’s successes and regrets of dismal weather, determining up/down mood swings, will change. So, in a day or two, self promises for the next year’s future hopes are to be considered. Already in situ in reality, it will be extended to planning those promises. Reality will bite from January.

To be pursued?

A new drummer for The XCerts. Writing in a focused manner to finish new songs. Finding some small live open mic performances locally to prepare for next July and the bigger Festival gig scenario with the XCerts. Planning some studio time for recording songs. Journal considerations and theme choices. Gardening interventions with vegetable growing, which has to be regarded as a relaxing endeavour. More social time and less of being a hermit. Oh! And chair yoga taken up for getting healthier. A book for a Christmas gift I bought for my wife. She had been attending yoga classes over last summer. After damaging her knee badly, it came to a stop. So, she was chatting about this method as an alternative. I’ll be having a go too!

To be honest, the weather has been atrocious over the last three months. The reality in the fact that a high percentage of days, upon waking up, involved witnessing rain and dismal darkness. As I type now, wind and rain howls outside. It’s been a challenge mentally. You guys here in blog-land have been fantastic and your positivity, which is/has been thrown this way to Summers-land, has helped so much. So a huge thank you.

Also. I haven’t been out on the road in the VeeDub Bus, not even once, since picking her up from the workshop last September either. In fact, I have seldom been outside for proper activity at all. Next year certainly needs motivational changes. The year has passed in a flash.

So. A few photographs below of pen and ink writing. Also my fave rooms for relaxation experience.