Frozen memories, coincidences and stuff to do on fine autumn days.

It’s funny how people are sometimes set in our memories, like flies in amber.

Nadia Comaneci, the gymnast, is 56 today! I found it in one of those lists of famous folk’s birthdays in the newspaper. But how can that be? She is forever a diminutive 14 year old, looking even younger than her years, doing amazing gymnastics routines at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Of course I have seen her in reports and documentaries since then but she will forever be that very young girl who scored a perfect 10.

Similarly Jackie Coogan is forever a scruffy little boy in a cap, peering round a doorway with Charlie Chaplin, in a scene from “The Kid” which we had in a framed poster hanging from our wall for years and years. In fact the poster is still around somewhere in the house. Checking details of this, I discovered that he gained renewed fame in the 1960s palying Uncle Fester in “The Addams Family”. Who knew? And not much resemblance!

I have been re-reading Barbara Kingsolver’s excellent novel “The Lacuna”, the story, fiction I hasten to add, of Harrison Shepherd, a writer who worked for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and through them as secretary to Leon Trotsky. Harrison Shepherd, in the novel, shares his birthday with Frida Kahlo: July 6th. This is also the birthday of my son and my oldest granddaughter as well as that of at least three other friends or acquaintances. Clearly a good date for a birthday!

That’s enough about famous people and birthdays.

Today the promised cold front (aka ola de frío) brought us one of those fantastic autumn days of blue sky and sunshine and very low temperatures. I was out and about at around 8.00 am looking for supplies of Trebor mints for my chessplaying husband who was off to play in an important league match. So while he sorted himself out I popped to the local co-op for supplies. What a beautiful day! Too good to stay indoors!
 
And when the chessplayers had departed, I put everything on hold and set off for the bus stop to catch the bus to one of the local beauty spots, which I have not visited for a while.



Autumn was out in force along the route and by 10.30 I was stomping round Dovestone Reservoir, still fairly quiet at that time.

I discovered that my usual circular route was not possible. They are busy “improving” the walks round the park so I sought out an alternative. This proved easy to find as I soon came across a newly opened path through a previously inaccessible bit of woodland.

There was a sign warning me that it was likely to be muddy. This turned out to be very true. I have very muddy light-weight walking shoes to prove it. But it was an interesting diversion.

By the time I was leaving at 12.30, the queue of cars trying to get onto the carpark was out of control. How glad I was not to have a vehicle on the carpark. So I made my way out by the path that declared itself a private road but which I have used for years. And the sun was still shining!

A quick stop-off for a couple of items from the local Tesco and I was back home by early afternoon to complete the chores abandoned earlier and even to read the newspaper.

The weatherman promises us a very cold night tonight! We shall see!