on the shoreline

first up, thanks for the messages left here. much appreciated. really.

this life by the sea is so far so good. still getting a thrill at having everything on my doorstep. enjoying being able to dander along the street for purhases local and organic. belfast feels very far away and i'm not complaining. not sure i can call this a honeymoon period but perhaps better a recognition of the good things about this town. i've given myself a couple of days of nothing but rest and relaxation after the hard labour that was moving week and some hard core work in therapy to get round the corner of recent depression. tiredness and anger that has nowhere to go has left me struggling to encounter other humans so some momentary retreat is well in order.

spontaneously bought a new touring bike yesterday (not exactly the cool retro European style i'd have liked but at a quarter of the price it's gonna do the job) and cycled along the lough with the tea time sunshine casting diamonds across the water. we're enjoying freakishly good weather here in our little corner of the world and we're enjoying it all we can, lest we get a repeat of 2007's 2 months of rain that had no right to be called a summer. planted window boxes and pots with some vegetables and flowers this morning on what my landlord and housemate, the good Father, calls his front terrace. whether the courgettes, basil, dwarf french beans, butternut squash and outdoor cucumber will be edible remains to be seen but we'll give it a shot. it's been a while since i had my hands in soil and it was therapeutic. my hope for the summer is for a simpler way of being. little by little discontentedness gives way to calm and what i'll admit is probably some kind of resignation that life is always gonna feature asshole behaviour of others, including my own, so i better get on with learning how to live with the reality.

right, off to the butchers and then it's time to cook a big pot of chilli for team fury.

be well, wherever you find yourself,

LB