Monday. 9.30 a.m. It's bright and sunny and unseasonably mild. I can't believe we'll be in December in a couple of days.
Not a lot to report at present.
Tuesday. 5.15 p.m. Monday may have been somewhat dull (well, life at Dexter House is somewhat mundane, to say the least.) but today has been exceptional.
It didn't start out particularly well. As I've mentioned earlier, the drive to Camphill can be somewhat nerve-wracking. Normally, at a later time of day, it would take no more than ten minutes, but with heavy traffic, it can take twice as long. This morning, as usual, I drove along Strudwick Drive and onto Chaffron Way, but this beast of an H.G.V. came right up behind me. It was not a pleasant experience to have this thing looming over me, very nearly touching the back bumper of my Renault and I was more than pleased that it didn't continue following me as it turn off to the left along Saxon Street at the Eaglestone Roundabout `(also known as 'Four Bridges.')
The traffic heading for the centre of Milton Keynes is heavy along Chaffron Way, Portway and Childs Way. Crossing the various roundabouts along Brickhill Street on the way to Camphill can be quite daunting because you have to judge when there is going to be a gap and then drive forward. It's not great for me, particularly as I was run into twice when I was a home carer and used to drive around Milton Keynes between the various calls I had early in the day. Then there are aggressive drivers, who think it's fine to come right up behind you as you drive (called, I believe, 'tailgating.') Then some drivers don't seem to think you need to stop and wait for traffic to pass on roundabouts and just carry on regardless, which is probably why I got to run into.
Well, thinking about the drive to Camphill, it wasn't as stressful as it can be, but I'm thinking, 'I thought that Milton Keynes was supposed to not have traffic problems, gridlock and similar when it was being planned in the 1960s.' It certainly doesn't live up to that promise. Some of the roundabouts really need to have temporary traffic lights at critical times of day, which would surely cut the hold-ups with cars bumper to bumper.
At Camphill there are early signs of Christmas as some of the houses have lights strung up on their exterior and on the front of the house which is directly opposite the Chrysalis Theatre, which has the cafe on its ground floor, there are lights strung across the walkways and balconies and a very large central wreath of holly and other seasonal vegetation which is ringed with lights which will only look their best when it gets dark.
The theatre workshop group met in the crypt in the theatre, because the theatre upstairs was being used by another group which came in from outside Camphill, called Phoenix Rising. The crypt is quite a cramped space, which made it difficult to do some of the exercises which we have been doing over the past few weeks, and which I am only just managing to follow. The art space, a room along the corridor from the crypt, was used so the group could do work on designing their costumes for Twelfth Night, but then I was required to take a couple within the group out for a walk because one of them, who is diabetic, had high blood sugar and some for of exercise, such as walking, will help reduce his blood sugar. So we went out and did a circuit of Camphill and along the Grand Union Canal and past the tree cathedral which I pass on Brickhill Street and then back into Camphill.
Terrie, the leader of the group, was taking each member of the cast of Twelfth Night, into the wardrobe department and going through costumes for each actor in the play. It was interesting seeing what costumes the gang either chose or were given to wear. As this show is supposed to be vaguely inspired by steampunk it was difficult to see the connection, or am I missing the point?
After lunch, I went with the same set of guys for yet another walk, but this time it was the reverse of the morning's group. I must remember to take a G.T.N. spray, because I began to get a slight angina attack, probably set off by the fact that we were walking much too fast, but it soon settled down. When we got back to the crypt, the rest of the afternoon was spent learning a sea shanty which Mitchell, who is a new member of the leadership group, had written, and it was great to get a chance to sing with the group. Then Terrie started work with the gang in Act 2 of Twelfth Night. The gang is given a sort of outline of each scene and then they start to improvise the scenes and the dialogue. Terrie has got a written text, based loosely on the Shakespeare text. The whole day was absolutely brilliant and I must say, going to Camphill does help my mental health and the group are so friendly and supportive, not just of one another but each other. As a result of all the walking done during the day, I managed to clock up just over 12,000 steps.
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