A Time for Reflection / Hiding in the Shadows

I had a hospital appointment at 9:30 this morning as a kind of follow up to my hospital stay in Ayr last month. No surprises. The consultant was very nice though and saved me the trouble of traipsing off for x-rays etc. saying there would be no point as they would only repeat the whole thing at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham (a new monstrosity where they are experts in heart surgery). It would have been a waste of my time and theirs doing any further tests at Solihull as she was referring me to the QE. She did however, give me a letter for my doctor so he can prescribe me some tablets to stop the flutters. She warned me that it causes constipation in some people! Great! Maybe I'll give them to the pigeons who have been sh***ing in the water for ages in their struggles to reach the fat balls. Constipated pigeons sound good to me!

I had booked the whole day off so I decided to make the most of the reasonably warm day and walk to the canal. I'd forgotten how beautiful it is down there. It's been a couple of years since I'd walked the eight miles into Brum that way. I wasn't going to do that today as I wanted to drop my letter at the doctor's surgery but it was wonderful there. You almost feel like you are in a green temple. A couple of cyclists passed me and a runner as well as the man you can see lurking in the shadows under the bridge. His little dog appeared shortly after and they both said/yapped 'Hello' as they went by. Strange things, canals. You seldom say 'hello' to people in the street - well I don't anyway! I've tripped over paving slabs looking in the wrong direction trying to avoid people! - but on the canal, everyone you meet, even the cyclists and runners greet you. It's almost like being in a secret society where kindred spirits meet and you are automatically friends.

So, it wasn't such a bad day after all. It was really nice to go somewhere slightly different I hadn't visited for ages. I was compelled to go there rather than rely on my feathered pals outside my kitchen window for today's blip.

Track? The man under the bridge when I looked at this picture on my screen reminded me of this beautiful, mellow Peter Green number, something more soothing to go with the still waters - Hiding in the Shadows