Coronavirus streets in Manchester - LXXVII

Leaps of fleshly walks

It had rained earlier besides the fact that there was a forecast of further rain episodes in Manchester. I was dressed in anticipation of adverse weather, but when I stepped out this afternoon to replenish my supply of cranberry juice that eases urinary tract issues, there was much to see.

There are people still adorning facemasks, they seem to be visitors from the Far East, in my case, I know that the Coronavirus is still about, five years on, because I only recently got my biannual booster, bringing my COVID-19 jabs to ten, in all.

However, as summer is now upon us, you cannot help but notice two things, the lips and the legs. The former is seen in both males and females, lips filled like balloons with fillers or Botox, all so unnaturally like big-lipped fish, very much the giant grouper or the Napoleon wrasse look. [A-Z Animals: Fish with Big Lips]

Flesh is not quite fresh

This is one case where beauty is hardly in the eye of the beholder other than whoever wants this unsightly cosmetic procedure that distorts from the natural and presents the utterly bizarre. For this and the latter issue, much as you want to look away, you are forced to see the indescribable that speaks louder than farce.

The rising mercury allows for the revealing of more skin, from shorts that should only be worn for a burlesque performance in a dingy poorly lit nightclub, well away from our common streets, to body parts that are best kept under wraps.

Whatever makes these fashion trends attractive fails to persuade me of either the self-awareness or the sensibleness of the purveyors. Yet, one must live and let live. Each time I walk through Manchester, one must curb the need to comment after seeing the outrageous to the dastardly.

It is still a bustling city of contrasts, changed and changing by circumstances, residents, and visitors alike. We cannot forget that the pandemic also wreaked havoc on our idyllic existence.

Thought Picnic: These Legs Were Made For Walking

The passage of time

Sometimes, there is so much going on and so much to write about but one is not presented with the inspiration to commit the thoughts and happenings to the structure of a blog.

Milestones and dates have come and gone, some, one wants to remember, others, one will love to forget be those landmarks 31 years, 9 years, 2 years or even 10 months – we count the passage of time for blessing and thankfulness or for dread of a past that would be best part of the long distant past.

The pain and the cane

However, I have been interested in sharing some news about my health. For 8 years, I have used a cane for problems with back-pain initially and then the loss of muscle-mass as a result of the lack of use of my left leg which was most affected by the cancer lesions on my sole.

For over a year, I have struggled with the problems of a weak leg, the exhaustion of walking and a unbalanced gait that resulted from having weaker leg. The cane appeared to steady my walk and give me just that little extra for traction, albeit considerably slower than other pedestrians.

Strength returning

I discovered the fun of cycling about half a year ago and I have gone to places I have never ventured by bicycle unaware that I have to stamina to make such journeys. Maybe it was just the matter of means, opportunity, will and ability, but I have noticed some really good results.

It has now gone 4 weeks since I stopped using my cane, there were times I have packed my 3-piece bolt-up cane in my bag, I do that no more. I have given up the use of the cane and had not need to use even an umbrella for support when I was out the other day.

Not a fashion statement

There are people who have thought the cane was a throw-back to some genteel age of being dandy and proper, much as one did at times have that appearance, the purpose was hardly for fashion or airs.

I would not have thought a time will come when I will not need the cane again and for that I am thankful and grateful to God as well as happy that I am discovering a new age of youthfulness.

That is, I think, a good update to share.

Saving my uninsured legs

Static I see

Having astigmatism in my right eye, I have learnt that my perception of distance and speed is very poor. It explains why I was useless at the tennis lessons I took when I was 8, my lazy eye working with my better eye just could not track the ball.

This knowledge also comes in useful when crossing roads, I would rather I saw the whites of the eyes of a driver approaching a crossing with an acknowledgement before I cross.

I remember vividly about 23 years ago; rather than walk the almost 1 km Isolo flyover with the 300m walk to the bus stop, I decided to cross the 10-lane Apapa-Oshodi expressway, everyone was calling out and I did not know I was centimetres from becoming a bloody rag-doll result of a horrific accident – I did not see the car that whizzed past the front of me.

In fact, I was once subjected to the socialist punishment of doing squats in public whilst pulling at my ears for crossing the same expressway during the Muhammadu Buhari’s War Against Indiscipline crackdown on jaywalking delinquencies.

That same crossing witnessed the possibility of religious unrest but for reason that prevailed, when a lady had her burqa ripped off by another man because she crossed seriously endangering the lives of her family that included two children, one strapped to her back.

Road crossings

My friends who drive, cross busy roads like they are still in their cars, I really take care of number one in these matters, I would rather use a pelican crossing, zebra crossing or some designated pedestrian crossing than skip like a listless buck across the road.

Sometimes I quip that my legs are not insured and since I still need to get around with them more often than not, I owe them a duty of road-crossing care.

However, I have feared for one thing and it happened this evening – pedestrian crossings with traffic lights but allowing for discretionary access to vehicles turning into a T-Junction.

Much as I have right of way, I still require that drivers notice me, they have to stop for pedestrians to cross and then even when the lights are green for pedestrians, and they can drive through if no one is present to cross.

I was crossing and this was after 3 cars had sped through, the 4^th noticed me and stopped, but as it stopped, the third car in line bumped into the second – the makings of a traffic jam and anything else that transpires.

No cause, real effect

Now, that accident happened because I was crossing, but the cause it was because the driver was not being attentive or the car brakes were defective – I did not witness the accident, so there was no need for me to wait around as an eye witness.

I was glad that the bump did not create a domino-cascade that could have affected me, sorry as I felt for the situation, I really could not throw a guilt-fit and feel at fault – just as the butterfly happily flapping its wings at one end of the world cannot necessarily be responsible for the tornado somewhere else – I am NOT the purveyor of chaos even if I happen to be coincidentally in the vicinity of the same.