Though we haven’t yet had the heavy snow that is affecting much of the country, it’s perishing cold. We’re neither of us starting the winter in the best of shape: Martyn has been fighting a chest infection for a while now, and is on a second course of antibiotics. It’s probably they that are making him feel so rotten: after a poor night, he went back to bed after breakfast. I just have a heavy cold, so am merely wallowing in self-pity, as is only right and proper for a bloke with a cold.
On the positive side, having yesterday had to do some shopping, I succeeded in ‘preconditioning’ the car, which was covered in frost first thing, so it was defrosted and warm when I went out. The process, launched from my iPhone without the need to brave the cold outdoors, takes a quarter of an hour, and uses about ten miles’ worth of range. Of course, none of the fumes and noise that the same job generates in a combustion car. It’ll take me years to learn all the car’s tricks, so I’m glad I’ve discovered this one early.
Thinking of the seasons, I recall a German verse, from a souvenir plate, I think:
Nutz die Frühling deines Lebens; Leb’ den Sommer nichts vergebens; Denn gar bald stehst du im Herbste, Und wann der Winter kommt, dann stirbst du.
Loosely translated: enjoy spring, make the most of summer: it won’t be long till autumn, and when winter comes, you die. It occurred to me, while I was cooking just now, that I spent an enjoyable evening once in Brussels with my old friend Kjell Johnsen, preparing a ratatouille together. Well, on looking at Facebook, I see that Kjell is no longer with us. Sad: he was a kind, undemanding friend.
Carpe idem, innit?
No comments:
Post a Comment