Junk the funk

Gloom Over Bloom

The number of times I have written about the joy of living and the pursuit of happiness would suggest to some that I never experience periods of funk, where dark clouds loom as harbingers of the rains of depression.

Like a cloud, it creeps up on you from a height where things might not seem discernible until the cool of the shadow hits your skin, the direct impact of sunrays abruptly taken from sight. As you look up, you hope the cloud is moving and that soon the sunrays will return, but you can never predetermine how large a cloud might be.

Depending on the weather of life, the cloud might linger for longer than is comfortable for the soul and body; it begins to affect your spirit. This is where you need a lift.

Count My Blessings

It was in the shower this morning (and a lot of interesting contemplation happens under a showerhead) that I realised I seem to have lost that lovely feeling, a kind of lethargy where the desire to do anything is lost. Plans percolate in the mind but never reach an execution stage, with procrastination unwittingly taking the fore and control.

There are many things I have had the intent to do but cannot seem to be bothered with, apart from feeling swamped by the underachievement or the lack of it. The inability to produce is like an infirmity.

I began to think of how to get out of this rut: by cultivating a spirit of thankfulness, getting out to do something even though I do not feel that sociable, then reflecting on what things I have wanted done. Moreover, I should stop thinking in terms of the means but rather the opportunity to do.

Cape Town reflections: The sexy things we failed to do

The sun

Leaving the chill of Manchester to the warmth of Cape Town via Paris was one trip I was so looking forward to for almost a year. It was almost scuppered with the advent of the Omicron variant when the Southern states of Africa were put on the red list. Were it not for the fact that I was spending 6 weeks away and travelling through France, I would have had to cancel my trip.

I love the sun and make the most of taking in the sun, as you would regularly see me in shorts, with a half-unbuttoned short sleeve shirt, a seagrass or straw hat, lots of water to drink, walking more than taking a ride to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront or going to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

Obviously, there are times when I need the shade, some shelter from the direct heat or to cool off from the warmth. It is strange that of the things we used to do so often in Cape Town and in Johannesburg, we never visited Häagen-Dazs for ice cream, but Christmas in the sun can never be beaten.

The sand

Probably everywhere we could do was green, with grass or other exotic plant life, the sand could probably be found in the dunes that we once tried to visit but the trip was cancelled. The tourist activity now boasts electric bicycles or buggies, it is not what I would feel that confident to do.

Another good view of the sand can be seen from paragliding and there are many who go tandem paragliding from Signal Hill to the fields of Sea Point between the main road and the promenade. Much as Brian would threaten for us to paragliding, I know it would near happen with his vertigo and fear of heights, to get him on the balcony takes much Dutch courage, I was surprised when he offered that we go on the waterfront Ferris wheel after my birthday dinner.

Sometimes, we go to Camps Bay and walk on the beach, though when we went to the Victoria Bay Beach near George, it was windy with ferocious white horses, anything but beach weather. Then we missed out on a place we do love to visit using the City Sightseeing tour bus, Hout Bay where we could walk in the sand, though we have not.

The sea

I suppose we now gravitate towards staying near the sea with easy access to the V & A Waterfront, we are surrounded by water with much to see. The marina there is occupied with idle yachts, probably a few get to wield their sails if ever, more they move under motor power.

The fascination is rarely with the boats but the seals basking in the sun or popping out of the water, beyond that it is the draw bridge or the swing bridge that lets the boats out and cuts off passage to the jutting out landscape of the waterfront and the quays.

For one, we took an apartment with no obstructive views of the sea where ghost ships might have cruised at unbelievable knots of speed, but the more glorious view was when MSC Orchestra came into Cape Town and could not be moored because of the wind, so it loitered in the bay. What it also heralded was the idea that the pandemic was being put behind us and what a crowd of passengers we saw trying to board when you saw her close by, at the passenger’s terminal.

I did not get my feet wet, not once. How could I have had the pleasure of sun, sand, sea, and sex, in Cape Town but missed out on ample opportunity to take advantage and commit to memory the amazing things to cherish. We love Cape Town.

Coronavirus streets in Manchester - VIII

Here comes the sun

This is the fourth Bank Holiday under the Coronavirus lockdown, one in which we have been under certain restrictions in terms of movement and travel especially that we have pleasant weather.

For me, it was the first opportunity to expose myself to the sun and build up naturally occurring Vitamin D which I should consider taking supplements for, in general.

When I fell ill, I had asked my friend to get me a box of cornflakes, whilst I expected the Kellogg’s brand, it was a store brand from one of the more affordable supermarket chains. Checking the nutritional information on the box, it had no vitamins and minerals content. I thought it was a given that boxes of cereal had a basic set of those.

On another low-cost brand he bought at the time he was housesitting for me had the full complement of Vitamins B6, B12 & D, and Folic Acid which I do require, along with Niacin (B3), Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), and Iron. All at various required daily intakes. However, as I do sometimes have Weetabix or Kellogg’s Rice Crispies, I might increase my breakfast consumption of those.

Longing for him

With my arms and legs exposed, I took to sitting in the sun at the New Islington Wharf. It was quite busy, but I had the concrete bench to myself, watching the world go by. The biggest feeling of regret I had was not being out with Brian as I remembered the many times we walked from our apartment in Cape Town to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. As there were many same-sex couples holding hands taking in the atmosphere.

My outing was counter clockwise to my Friday walk, through Angel Meadow Park that was crowded without a bench free or a patch of grass with enough distance from others. Not that I would have sat on the grass. I did stop beside the Co-operative Group head office building, which had long rows of unoccupied benches in the sun and then with a nerve ending twitch in my hip hobbled into the shopping precinct.

Blog - Coronavirus streets in Manchester - VII

Flower snatching crazy woman

Another resting point before the final stretch home, there was a flowerbed behind me, a violated the social-distancing requirement without apology lunging for full-blown flowers to give to two kids in strollers, one of which she was pushing. I probably should have shouted at her or even waved my stick, a typical public vandal who cared nothing for others around them. I did not have the strength, not that it would have dissuaded her entitled mien.

On getting home, I was tired enough to take a nap. I hope when tomorrow comes, strength, verve and enthusiasm are at peak levels to enjoy the first day at work.

Sun Getting in Europe

Sun’s out

We come out and we laid down in the sun for burning. It is the reptilian nature of Northern Europeans to sun bathe, every appearance of the glowing sun with its warmth and heat is a welcome sign to strip off and soak it in.

Now, those of us of darker skin are usually not persuade of the sun worshipping ritual all by reason of the fact that we have come from sunnier climes where we probably always sought the shade and when we did not, we had our houses and offices fitted with air-conditioners that brought tundra to the tropics.

Sun health

I did remember one office I visited in Lagos that required we all wore jumpers for the artificially manufactured cold – no one considered the cost of and the energy it took to freeze the building.

The fact is we also need the sun because essential Vitamin D is produced by our exposure to the sun which we do not get enough of in Europe that we have to take supplements in the winter months.

Humidity is sometimes a curse, it is usually so high as to be suffocating, we need the sun, we need hydration and we need cooling down. One other problem that we have encountered is after about 8 years of living in Europe we become so susceptible to hay fever – the feeling could be so nasty, those of us spare the ravages of that ailment can only be thankful.

Sun getting

By and large, we should take in the sun with moderation and there isn’t much we can do with sun screen lotions since the pigmentation that is literally invisible on Caucasian skin shows up as if we have been face painting.

The sun is out, we should make the best of summer, my shorts, my bicycle and off to the man-made beach I used to scoff at.

Get pills for sunny vitamins

Off to hospital

A date set in the future with expectations and anxieties finally arrived and news is anticipated from the life and the living things found in the bloods.

My 3^rd quarterly check-up was scheduled for today and I had arranged to first see the catholic pastor before seeing my specialist. As usual, my journey was once again eventful, so surveyors impeded tram traffic just before my drop-off point that when they freed up the tracks the tram just continued to the next tram stop.

I did not have to walk 10 minutes to the hospital because a tram that goes by the front arrived just in time and that was fine to make my first meeting.

We chatted for about 45 minutes on my job, my work ethic, my spiritual life and basically how I felt about things in general – he was preparing for a funeral service – one of the hospital flock he had known for long had just passed away.

Good signs and progress

Then I booked in at the Department of Internal Medicine where first my weight and blood pressure were measured before I saw the consultant.

Within minutes I was called in and introduced to an intern, the consultant was impressed with my improvement – my feet in regular shoes, my looking hale and hearty, my sense of well-being and much more.

My feet were inspected and for the intern who saw the original pictures she must have been so impressed with the wonders of modern-day medicine – the scarring was still there but the whole foot was healed, the irritation and itching was put down to the weak immune system rather than anything else.

The tale in the bloods was very satisfactory, liver function good, cholesterol fine and immunity factors up by almost 350% but still not where they should be, however, it was a considerable improvement on February where the rate of improvement was hampered by the courses of chemotherapy.

A substitute for the sun

With the obvious indicators dealt with some other things gained some attention, certain anti-bodies had appeared which need further scrutiny in probably 4 months, strikingly, there were other factors that pertained to my race – they had noticed a deficiency in Vitamin D – well we have not had that much sun latterly, neither have I been on a holiday to some of my regular haunts in a while – that needed boosting, the pills could only be chewed, they were that big.

My drug regime would change but I have to choose the time, some of the medicines are being offered as amalgams of other discreet types cutting down the ingestion of 7 pills a day to just 3. One of the side-effects is supposed to be the feeling of being stoned (Better get Dummies Guide to Getting Stoned), so best taken before bedtime – as for the other side-effects I just hope that I am in the very rare few that experience none of them.

The next appointment is set for 4 months time – the doctor in closing said he felt I had improved so much more considerably than he had expected, not to mention that I had gained 10 kilograms in just 3 months.

Much information to take in, the consequences quite dramatic and  there is a life to live, hopefully for the good and full of gratitude to many who I cannot thank enough for their encouragement and support.

16 nights gone so soon

Passing for white in the sun

I could almost swear that when I arrived on holiday on the first of the month I was the only one with a tan a darker shade of brown, but hours before my return home today, there are many who were as white as snow when they arrived who could make me pass for a deeply tanned Caucasian.

Such is the way people come to these sunny climes for what is essentially a reptilian experience; crawl out of bed in the morning and congregate at the pool or beach worshipping the sun till it gets too hot and then they slither into the pool or water for a brief cooling down then return to bask in the sun till they are medium rare hash browns or bright red lobsters, the last part however, does not happen to crocodiles.

One thing missing from the work of the sun is that it does not burn off body-lard, the many relatives of Michelin man who exposed so much flesh to the sun and each once beautiful body over time succumbs to the abuse of food and the lack of exercise, people could be a bothersome eye sore.

I dread the thought of getting on my scales back home too, the food and wine has been sumptuous, I had better my cleaner to dump the scales in the bin before I return.

Get off the beach and explore

I have always found other things to do in Gran Canaria because it is quite an interesting island once one gets out of the overly touristy areas on the Southern Coast.

There is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria the capital to the North East where you find information leading to the discovery for Europe the continent of the Americas at the Museum House of Christopher Columbus, I also found the Museo Elder quite interesting which is a science museum.

The shop to go to is the El Corte Ingles department store which seems to have everything, I even got a hammock and suit from there once; it is bus 30 from Playa del Ingles.

Palmitos Park is a bird sanctuary which suffered some damage in the forest fires of mid 2007, I hear no animals suffered, but it would take some time to rebuild the place.

Puerto Rico to the West of Playa del Ingles and Puerto de Mogan are places to visit, at the first, we were persuaded to get on a catamaran for almost 3 hours as we ventured out 16 kilometres into open sea to see the schools Atlantic Spotted Dolphins, I almost lost my sea legs.

At Puerto de Mogan, you would be taken by the clarity of the water and did I get into a “Yellow Submarine” to view creatures in the depth of the sea hoping we did not have to call on the reserves of 3 days of oxygen, just in case we could not float again.

One can get to all these places by bus but make sure you travel part of the way by ferry which goes between Puerto de Mogan, through Puerto Rico to Arguineguín the nearest port to Playa del Inglés and Maspalomas.

The interior of the island is a wonder of windy roads through canyons on the Southern side and temperate green in the North, towns like Tejeda and Firgas reveal the traditional Gran Canarians, in fact, once we came upon a procession of floats drawn by super-salivating cows and bulls.

During one of our tours of the island in safari jeeps we got to highest approachable point by car and were able to seen Las Palmas through the clouds, we were basically above some of the lower laying clouds.

There is so much to do in Gran Canaria if we can abort the quest for getting cooked in readiness for long gone cannibals and in all, I have still not done the whole of the island in four visits.

Tired from not really retiring

The island however is full of many who have come to retire in the sun, opened shops, bars and other service operations only to find they are hardly in retirement as they eke out a living from carefree tourists.

I would return to Gran Canaria soon and I have learnt a few things as travel Comfort Class or better, means more leg-room and more baggage; stay at one of the Riu Hotels of 4-star class or better; do half-board, that is breakfast and dinner taken care of and sometimes the hotel entertainment is viewable.

There were many couples in my hotel, straight and gay, amazingly, quite a few young ones were there and I could not help but notice the two beautiful ladies where one was dressed the manly part and the other looking quite like a prom girl.

One last view of the sea from my room as I check-out and regrets that 16 nights are so soon gone.

The slideshow

The pictures of my holiday appear here, I would find some time to caption the whole lot.