Saying Goodbye

It's been fun sharing the house with the boys again for a short while - although I'm not sure I can really call them boys any more. Forrest is now on his university cricket tour and Roam departed back to London this morning. I walked into town to see him off on the train. Unlike me, he doesn't like to be rushed and we got to the station a full five minutes before the train was due to depart. I wouldn't even have my shoes on at that point!

These modern trains are so different to those I travelled on when I was Roam's age. In health and safety terms they belong to a completely different world. What I most miss is not being able to pull the window down so you can chat away to your departing loved one until the train pulls away - even while the train is pulling away. It's just not the same trying to use sign language through the darkly tinted windows they use nowadays. I miss that running down the platform thing, keeping up with the train as long as you can, kind of hoping it will accelerate beyond running speed before the end of the platform so you can apply the brakes in time. And I miss even more being able to wave to the diminishing face peering out through the window, keeping waving until they are completely out of sight. It was all so much more romantic then - not that I would ever embarrass my sons in such a way of course.

Perhaps I don't so much miss the slam doors. In those days you could still catch your train even if it had started to leave. It was too tempting not to try, opening the door and timing your jump into the carriage. It was quite dangerous really - although I think I only once ended up in a heap on the platform and facing a severe ticking off. Yes, I think it's good to no longer have that temptation.

After saying goodbye to Roam I had a wander down the Grove looking for an interesting face but not really feeling the vibe at all. And then a face presented itself to me - a face I knew vaguely from blip but had never before seen for real. This face. It's a quite amazing thing that before I even knew of the existence of blip there has been someone blipping away who lives not more than fifty yards away from me. We had never met before today. Dcred is every bit the gentleman that he comes across as on here. A truly lovely fellow and it was an honour to be blipped myself today - although I do now regret not having had a shave this weekend!

We were chatting away when I was suddenly grabbed in an embrace by the delectable Muddyshoes. My new friend had very quickly added another blipper to his collection. I'm beginning to believe there must be some kind of blip radar in operation such that when blippers reach a certain level of proximity they home in on each other. This kind of thing just seems to happen too often. So, just as I was contemplating a return to my empty house I was invited around for a lovely lunch and catch up with the Muddies. Thank you guys. The timing could not have been better.

Since then I've had to get down to work and the muzzy head has descended on me again. I think I'm developing an allergic reaction to this computer screen.