Old Haunts

The broken plastic rear light cover on my car is now fixed - damn those things are expensive! My garage is next to the school where I worked, 1 minute by car - was very handy when I worked there - now not so much! It was very strange being back there, I took the 15 minute walk to the local shops and took a few photos. It's not the worst looking part of Plymouth, the main road is tree lined and there are woods and views to the river and moors. But it rates as no 5 in the 39 areas of Plymouth for deprivation in all aspects, children in need, packages of need, health,  benefits, anti-social behaviour, housing, crime,  etc. There is a great sense of community in the local shops - as I queued in the Post Office people greeted one another and one woman with bruises was  joshed  about her behaviour over the weekend.  The signs in the Post Office were telling - I counted 7 in all telling people they could not get their passports or Road Tax done there, 3 telling them not to use their mobile phones whilst being served! There were also items on the information board offering writing courses, job application help, a drop in centre for young mothers and another for ex-army suffering PTSD. The prospects of the bright eyed young children running around are not good. As I walked back to the garage I spotted the Jersey Tiger Moth on the post box, an old guy waiting at the bus stop came to see what I was photographing, and a bit further on me and another old boy watched as two buzzards cried and circled in the sky above us. 
Car sorted I went to Waitrose - quite a different clientele from the Post Office queue. I bumped into the woman who works at Trematon taking entrance money and serving drinks and cakes. She greeted me like an old friend and introduced me to her husband who looked quite confused but greeted me anyway! 
On the drive home I reflected again on my good fortune and the freedom and solitude that I so relish. I listened to a drama about the life of Ronnie Barker from The Two Ronnies, Porridge, Open All Hours, who in his acceptance speech for an award at the end of his long career,  described his life as being lucky at every point. I'm not sure I have always had luck, but I have been fortunate most of the time, and I certainly am when I think of those young children and the people in my old haunt. They are cheerful even though life continues to try to grind them down.