Conwy

The last three weeks have been the strangest time. Losing and grieving the loss of my wife and best friend is part of it. Simultaneously, re-entering the world fully after four years of shielding (her blood cancers and treatment meant that infection was a huge risk) is another part. So doing “normal” things - going into a restaurant, into a pub, into someone else’s house - has carried a strange edge. I am well outside any “Comfort Zone”.

It has also been really strange contacting friends after all this time. We have seen a few people since 2020, but our focus on hospitals, clinics, and keeping safe made us ultra cautious. And because we’ve always enjoyed each others company, and have found ways to enjoy life to the full without doing all those “normal” things, none of that has really mattered.

But I now find myself on my own, and have to learn how to live a different life, which I know will take a long time. I’ve decided for starters to say yes to things.

So today I was invited by friends for a walk. We settled on RSPB Conwy, followed by a walk into and around the town. My first ever visit, and it was a real surprise - a lovely place. And a good walk. My friends are also Welsh speakers (it’s the language they use at home and with all their Welsh friends and acquaintances) so it was interesting picking up the Welsh names for the birds we were watching. And I’ve brought back home a lot of tasty home baked Welsh Cakes to work my way through. “I gyd yn dda” as they would say.