Innocent and In a Sense I am

I had a walk tonight. I decided that a walk would be better for my back than sitting resting it.

It was a glorious walk, and I took loads of photos, and I thought of stories I could tell to go with the pictures. This picture might not have been the most exciting, but it's the one I wanted to go with.

When I left home to go to College, I already had worked for two years at a job I hated, and was stupendously bad at. I couldn't figure out where I was going wrong, and no matter how much help I asked for, no one took the time, to work out what was wrong, they just shouted at me, it was a horrible vicious circle and the more they got annoyed with me, the more I messed up. I should never have taken that job.

College was a new start. In my first year, I lived with a family as their lodger. That was an experience in itself, and maybe a story for another time.

In my second year, I moved into a flat with 5 other students, some friends from my course, and others friends of friends.

We had a door like this. It was Number 5. Top Flat Left. The bedroom I shared with my friend, occupied the front of the house, and was the biggest room. Our window overlooked Arthurs Seat and the Salisbury Crags. We were given the biggest room because we didn't really know each other that well, and everyone else did. As it turned out, we got to know each other really well, and had an absolute ball together.

But our flat. No 5, Top Flat Left. The sights that flat seen, the laughs and the shouting and the mess. I learned to live that year. We partied, and danced, and loved and laughed, with not a care in the world. It was the dirtiest flat by the time we left. Ridden with mice. The temperature was so cold, the fish tank exploded when we were all in the living room at the same time.

We watched Countdown religiously when we all came back from college. Amazingly we all sat down to dinner together - we all too a turn, and had carryout on Friday. We were pretty damned organised for students.

We had one of the best parties... Bring Your Own Booze, No Dope in the Flat, there was a constant stream of people, girls were using the toilet, boys were using the bath. Dope Smokers were in the Garden - a blaze of fireflies in the dark of night. One of our "mates", ordered baked potatos for our neighbours, so that they didn't feel left out. And posted them through their letter boxes. What a night... and the trouble we were in the next day. You have never seen 6 folk creep in and out of a top floor flat so quietly for weeks after.

We had midnight drives around the city centre in the back of Ken's pick up. We had shaving foam fights.

We hired An Officer and a Gentleman on VHS every Friday, and watched it up to 5 times over the weekend, til we all knew the script.

And then at the end of the year, we all drifted away from the flat. A year older, a year wiser, and ready to do the same all over again somewhere else.

Every time I see a door like that, I think on that year, and smile to myself. Not a regret in the world!