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...and breathe.
Dec. 18th, 2015 08:09 pmI finished work for the year today, and I'm having trouble getting my brain to spin down.
That's a usual problem when I go from working flat out to not working at all, but the last week has made it more tricky than ever.
Last Saturday morning I got up at 4 to catch a plane to Geneva, and then had four days of not-sking in the Alps. Chamonix, to be exact, which put me in the shadow of Mont Blanc. I'd always thought of that as a handy but trite phrase, you know: "In the shadow of the mountain". Three days there made me realise that it's a concrete metaphor. Mountains DO cast a shadow, and you can spend half the day thinking its overcast when there isn't a cloud in the sky. Very weird.
This seems as good a time as any to mention that I wasn't there on my own. Yes, I'm seeing someone, and yes, it's delightful, and no, I won't be saying much more than that. She doesn't do social media to any extent, and wouldn't be comfortable with me blogging about her. So I won't. But if you wonder why I've taken up not-skiing holidays, and following rugby, well, now you know.
I had a meeting to get to in Inverness on Wednesday, which meant I couldn't spend the whole week in the Alps. I made the best of my time there, though, taking a gondola and a cablecar about to around 3,000 metres, and fulfilling all my James Bond fantasies about mountain hideouts and duels in the snow. I also ate my bodyweight in cheese and potatoes, about which something will have to be done.
I sacrificied a direct flight back to Edinburgh for the reward of not getting up at 5 am, so I flew back via Brussels, an easy enough route, but it did mean I was on the move from 2.30 till about one a.m. as I had a three hour drive to Inverness in front of me when I arrived in Edinburgh.
The Inverness gig was fine, and I had a very low-key night out with my team on Thursday. Given the drink driving rules here, I didn't want to drive until lunchtime today, so got back to Edinburgh around 4, and collapsed on the couch.
Hopefully by tomorrow my brain will have calmed down, but there's a trip to see the Silencers tomorrow night, and then the inevitable Star Wars trip to arrange.
All in all, it's a busy time, but I have a couple of weeks to practice mindfulness.
That's a usual problem when I go from working flat out to not working at all, but the last week has made it more tricky than ever.
Last Saturday morning I got up at 4 to catch a plane to Geneva, and then had four days of not-sking in the Alps. Chamonix, to be exact, which put me in the shadow of Mont Blanc. I'd always thought of that as a handy but trite phrase, you know: "In the shadow of the mountain". Three days there made me realise that it's a concrete metaphor. Mountains DO cast a shadow, and you can spend half the day thinking its overcast when there isn't a cloud in the sky. Very weird.
This seems as good a time as any to mention that I wasn't there on my own. Yes, I'm seeing someone, and yes, it's delightful, and no, I won't be saying much more than that. She doesn't do social media to any extent, and wouldn't be comfortable with me blogging about her. So I won't. But if you wonder why I've taken up not-skiing holidays, and following rugby, well, now you know.
I had a meeting to get to in Inverness on Wednesday, which meant I couldn't spend the whole week in the Alps. I made the best of my time there, though, taking a gondola and a cablecar about to around 3,000 metres, and fulfilling all my James Bond fantasies about mountain hideouts and duels in the snow. I also ate my bodyweight in cheese and potatoes, about which something will have to be done.
I sacrificied a direct flight back to Edinburgh for the reward of not getting up at 5 am, so I flew back via Brussels, an easy enough route, but it did mean I was on the move from 2.30 till about one a.m. as I had a three hour drive to Inverness in front of me when I arrived in Edinburgh.
The Inverness gig was fine, and I had a very low-key night out with my team on Thursday. Given the drink driving rules here, I didn't want to drive until lunchtime today, so got back to Edinburgh around 4, and collapsed on the couch.
Hopefully by tomorrow my brain will have calmed down, but there's a trip to see the Silencers tomorrow night, and then the inevitable Star Wars trip to arrange.
All in all, it's a busy time, but I have a couple of weeks to practice mindfulness.
