Time for Change

It’s been a very busy time for me, this winter.  When I last wrote in this blog in October 2010 I was waiting, like many other public servants, to see how Mr Osborne’s Spending Review of 20 October 2010 would affect me.  After much of a lifetime spent working in what seemed like the World’s safest job, I little thought that the changes which would come would be any more than a few adjustments, each of little magnitude, adding up to a bit more work and a bit less pay.  No significant change, I thought.  How wrong I was.

So by the time April comes I shall be without work.  In truth, I have rotten health so it’s something of a relief, and I’m certainly not going to moan about it.  I am fortunate that I have a husband whose income will feed us both and we will not be destitute.  I shall be shopping carefully and looking after us both well.

Bishops Castle Michaelmas Fair 2010

And as if losing my job wasn’t stressful enough, I’ll be moving house too.  We have spent this cold, cold winter in a rented home which has Victorian insulation (ie, none) and a very poor heating system.  We can’t wait to leave, and so we’ve been spending winter weekends preparing our future home so that it best meets our requirements.  No doubt I shall be blogging about solar power in the not too distant future.

All of this weekend work has meant that my bike has been locked away in hibernation!  My poor legs have hardly pedalled for three months and I’m going to have a really hard time getting fit again, especially as my new home is nestled amongst Shropshire hills, whose minor byways are not for the faint hearted.  At least I haven’t had to pump up tyres and oil chains.  But then, pumping up my tires can be exercise too, as it taxes my arms much more than knitting does. 

All change then.  A new home, a new lifestyle, and lots of adaptations.  I shall just have to wait to see how I shall cope with it all. 

Living with Fragile Health

As anyone who knows me knows only too well, my health isn’t perfect.  In fact, sometimes it’s far from perfect, and it can be very irritating, as it keeps me at home.  It keeps me at home and locked away from the wonderful wildness which I feel I need to counteract the stresses that bring me down.

I have plenty of other hobbies besides cycling, and I really shouldn’t begrudge them the pleasure they give me just because I save them for when I’m unwell.  If I’m feeling good, my knitting takes forever, because I’m so often out on my bike; but if I feel unwell, I might get a drawing done as well as some knitting.  I like to sew, and I like to write a journal.  But it’s the nature of things that my journal only ever gets an entry when I feel under the weather, and the sewing list grows longer and longer until I have a good old sewing catch-up day, normally when it’s raining stair rods outside.

But sometimes, even when I do feel under the weather, I manage to get out on my bike.  I might have to ride alone, because I’m slow and I occasionally need to hop behind a bush to answer nature’s call.  But to be upfront about it (and I’m aware that I’m blowing my own trumpet here) I do pretty well.  There are plenty of “able bodied” people who would struggle to do some of the rides I do, though there’s really nothing athletic about my riding. 

In reality, I learn over and over again that cycling actually improves my health.  I’m not about to argue that it directly does a lot for my physical health (though I think it does, to a limited extent) but it does a very great deal indeed for my psychological health.  That, in turn, heals me, providing an antidote to all of those troubles and concerns that weigh me down, including my worries and concerns about my rotten health.  One cannot be introspective whilst cycling. 

Out on my bike I feel I’m really connected with the real me.  Far from my desk at work and the dullness of my job, I am witness to the ebb and flow of life, both natural and agricultural, as it responds to the changing season.  When I travel by my own steam, I feel a sense of pride in overcoming my little handicaps.  When I don’t get out or when I can’t cycle, I miss it sorely, like a wrong that needs putting right.  It’s absence leaves me with an ache.

And it’s so good for me, that numerous people who know better than me tell me it’s even good for my heart!  If you don’t cycle yourself, it would be good for yours too.