So, the dreaded four-oh has passed. I have to admit now that some
of the targets on my list might have been a teeny bit ambitious. Had I all the
resources of say, Victoria Beckham, I could indeed have spent the last six
years travelling to the Galapagos, Antarctica, Borneo, Madagascar etc. Or if
Sir David Attenborough had spotted my talents as a budding presenter perhaps
from, I don’t know, my tweets about bats and puffins I’d have enjoyed
travelling the world as a roving wildlife spotter. As it is, I’ve not made a
bad stab of it and there’s nothing to say that some of these exciting goals can’t
be rolled over to the next decade or so.
In the meantime, here are a couple I managed this year, which
still count at a push:
4. Buy a piano/keyboard üAchieved in my fortieth year, hurray!
Thanks to all the lovely family members who helped chip in to help
me buy my lovely Yamaha keyboard. It’s got weighted keys and pedals and
headphones so my neighbours don’t have to be subjected to my stumbling
practice.
Considering I only really have two rooms in my tiny flat, I’m
pretty pleased that I managed to squeeze my life-long dream of ‘a piano in a
library’ into it. (Library, in this case, means ‘about six shelves’. But they
are heavy laden. In fact, one collapsed the other day and had to be propped up
by a hefty pile of Dickens. Anyway, I digress.)
One of the most exciting things was when the delivery guy buzzed
to say ‘parcel for you’. I descended to find a box than was twice my weight and
almost my height sitting on the pavement.
‘Urm, can you give me a hand with this to the third floor please?’
‘No can do. Sorry.’
I contemplated setting up the piano with a busking hat outside to
make my fortune. In the end owe a huge debt of thanks to my friend for
struggling with the hefty thing up to my top floor flat. It’s now been
beautifully inserted between the cheese plant and the step-ladder displaying
the drama section of my book collection (sorry, library), as if it were
designed that way.
There’s nothing nicer than tinkling away a stressful day,
massacring a few David Bowie songs or playing Debussy and Chopin in the way
that they definitely wouldn’t have intended. Practice needed …
27. Ski in at least 3 more countries/regions
I’d like to say a big thank you to
Elsie for helping me to achieve the final in my third of three, very different,
ski experiences. The weekend before my fortieth, we stayed over-night in a cosy
lodge and stocked up on a big breakfast in preparation for a ski up and down a Munroe.
We really were exceptionally fortunate with the weather. It was cold (of
course) but with incredible blue skies and although a bit too windy at the top
to want to linger over the ‘conquered it’ shot, definitely not so cold as to
wonder whether your toes have actually fallen off.
My previous attempt at ski touring
saw me crying all the way up and rolling all the way back down before kissing
the ground Pope style in gratitude for my safe return. This time I was so
excited by stomping along with the skis on my back, crossing a stream in proper
Famous Five style and chatting to really interesting and inspiring people as I tromped
my way up that I was barely aware of the miles sliding under my skies. Skiing
uphill will always be weird, but I can definitely appreciate the joy of not
having to fight the crowds on the piste. We even saw mountain hares.
A top end to my thirties.
The actual last day of my thirties
was, as an aside, spent up to my eyeballs in snow thanks to the Beast from the
East. At least I won’t forget it in a hurry.
7. Get a rabbit
I inherited a cat. Does that count?
The list hasn’t ended, just paused. For all the many, many people
who have helped me get so far: thank you. I really couldn’t have done it
without you.
Here’s to the next decade of fun!