Hero in my dreams

Friday October 5, 2007

They gave me a ‘health survey’ form to fill in when I went for my annual ‘flu jab yesterday. They gave me a pen, too, which was cool. Trouble is they forgot to warn me so I didn’t have my reading specs with me.

Goodness knows what I wrote on that harmless piece of paper because I’m sure I don’t. I did my best but I’m expecting a call to the ante-natal clinic any day now.

Thence to the post office, getting lost in the rabbit warren of streets that gird the centre of Bridgwater like a mystic maze. For once however this turned to my advantage because I found a disabled parking space, saving 90p on the fee for the multi-storey.  It’s getting pricey now, motoring. The price of petrol has edged over the £1 per litre mark, and there’s precious little in the way of free parking left.  I’d wondered if the postal strike would have closed the post office but no, it was functioning normally and the guy on the counter said he doubted if my little packet would be delayed too much, if at all.

It seemed a waste to be in town without visiting Costa Coffee, especially since it was brunch time for me, and the pannini display looked so tempting. It’s a odd thing but I’ll cheerfully blow a fiver on coffee and a bun when I’m so mean over paying pence for parking.

It could be that this was the first day of a St Luke’s Little Summer so I took my walk through Bridgwater on what had turned out to be a lovely sunny day, warm enough for my t-shirt to be more than adequate. They say that a true Little Summer signals a harsh winter. We shall see.

There were butterflies about today, too, to lift the eyes to the sky. I noted several yellows, and a full-coloured red admiral. Oh but that’s a joy. There’s precious little other than the sun for them to feed on, sadly, so I suspect they’ll be looking for winter quarters now and the days will be left to errant moths and to me.

In the evening, I, Claudius. Now that I’m over the first episode I shall continue through the entire series, chances are.  It’s still a delight to watch after all these years.

Then to bed where I had strange dreams, most likely the result of the ‘flu jab.  This time I’d taken to rod and line fishing from the back door in the river that flowed right outside.  I caught several large fish and then, unaccountably, a monstrous carp which grew legs and scuttled into the dark space behind the range. Dolly the Mega-cat came to my rescue and dragged the pesky thing out even though it was considerably larger than she.  I woke before learning if we’d eaten the beast. It would have made good eating.

And then, at about 1:30 a.m., the phone rang and Graham and I exchanged our news of the day briefly before saying goodnight. I turned over, gave Dolly the tummy tickle Graham had sent, and slept through with nary a murmur of a dream or the tickle of a bladder to trouble me.

Quite an adventurous day, really, tackling Bridgwater, catching a giant fish and being rescued by a giant cat. Odd, though, that she’s such a hero, even in my dreams.