Bloggers with a View – Path

“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”

― Rumi

Saturday… come rain or shine, I’m at the local library. Well, when I say local, I mean the city library – one-hour drive away from home. That’s where I get my weekly fix: people, books, culture, life…

As usual, I bring back what I’ve borrowed the previous week, collect what I’ve reserved, have a look at the magazines, check the sewing and cooking books then take everything up on the 3rd floor, settle at my favourite table to read or write while watching the people around me. If available, we always take the table in the back corner – it’s usually for 1 (in honour of one of the numerous Covid rules) but the lady in charge in this area know the three of us belong to the same family so it’s no big deal if there are not 2 meters in between us. Soon I’m joined by my daughter. Hubby always takes longer to select what he is going to take and spend at least one hour in the music department.

Damned… new lady in charge today! She rushes towards us to inform our duo we need to go to a bigger table. I smile and say “don’t worry, we’re from the same family” but just like a robot she repeats with a gold-fish expression (yes, really!) “yeh, but you need to go to a bigger table”. End of the conversation.

I feel my nerves getting high instantly and as quickly as that, I don’t want to whisper and smile anymore. I want to shout and shake her energetically by the shoulders while taking off my mask to yell “for fuck sake, we live together and what’s the big deal if we sit together here. Will you all give me a break with all your rules and silly restrictions? How long is it going to last? How long will I have to respect orders like a child? How long before we can go back to normal”… But instead, I just roll my eyes, grin and move respectfully.

I sit down at “the bigger table” scattering the books noisily, and open my computer. I get my earphones and put some Johnny Flynn on – hoping to relax.

“Will you search through the lonely earth for me?
Climb through the briar and bramble
I’ll be your treasure I felt the touch of the kings and the breath of the wind
I knew the call of all the song birds
They sang all the wrong words
I’m waiting for you
I’m waiting for you“

That’s the theme from “Detectorists”. The plot of this British tv series revolves around the lives, loves and metal detecting ambitions of Andy and Lance. Thinking of this bitter sweet comedy staring the weirdly charming Mackenzie Crook makes me think of Jules’ last post about The Dig, a Netflix production where a wealthy British widow hires an amateur excavator/archaeologist to dig up these odd, massive hills dotting her property; she suspects they could be covering up something of historic significance.

In both series, I’m touched by way The Past becomes a proper character, treated with tenderness and care.

I can’t help but put into perspective what we’re dealing with right now. It’s amazing how many bloggers have recently been scraping from the past slices of travels and lives which don’t exist anymore.  We too have old treasures to look for and slightly frustrating (even unsatisfactory if you ask me!) lives to run away from. Ironically, I realised earlier this week, that 20 years ago, in February 2001, I was leaving for a five-month trip around India and have thought too I should write a post about it.

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But instead, hoping to take a break from the new restrictive lives we have to get used to these days, I’d rather have an imaginary walk with you all. And perhaps next month, I’ll invite you to an imaginary dinner party! You might not be literally feel you’re walking these paths, but the clips were beautifully chosen and recorded and I hope your mind will travel the world for the next 3 minutes. Hopefully you’ll see it’s not just a video; it’s a connection, an in-between universe where we are focusing on the beauty of our own countries and our present real lives. Hopefully you’ll see our genuine will to share a little bit of it.

Here is to simpler times and a gentle future for us all!

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Thank you ladies (in no particular order!)

FINLAND The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi,

 AUSTRALIA Something to Ponder About,

NYC Wandering Explorer Travel,

COLORADO I Choose This,

LOS ANGELES Rebecca Goes Rendezvous,

OREGON Go Jules Go,

CANADA The Sandy Chronicles,

ENGLAND Travel With Me,

POLAND Lost in Pretty Europe

 and new team players from Canada Suitcase Travel, The Widow Badass Blog, Retirement Reflections

And thanks again Rosie for the song.

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Here is the February Project : Bloggers with a View, choosing a path…