It’s good to talk.
And, if you read that in the voice of Bob Hoskins, then that means you are at least as old as I am.
Which segues nicely to the theme of this week’s offering.
Oh My Days!
We’ll start on the Sunday just gone. It was a bright and sunny day and, strangely for a Sunday, I had plans. I was due to meet up with some long term (he said, dodging the word ‘old’) friends for an increasingly hard-to-organise meet-up.
Said friends are a group I’m proud to have known for a long, long time (I’m talking thirty years plus). They are people I grew up with, if you count growing up as the slice of life that follows your late teens.
Those were heady days. Days of hitting the pub at least twice a week. Days of clubbing until three in the morning. Days of parties and pub crawls. Days that seem to have passed by somewhat.
But this is not because of a weakening of the ties that bind. No, those relationships remain just as firm footed as ever, it just takes that little bit more to maintain them. Everyone has such hefty responsibilities these days. It really should be frowned upon.
Thus it was, that as the taxi dropped myself and my always amazing wife, Tina, in the heart of my native Pudsey (yes, like the bear) and began our ill thought out and much-complained-about trundle uphill to The Bankhouse pub I felt like I was stepping back into the past.
Generation Games
Not that The Bankhouse was always one of our most regular haunts. It’s a little off the beaten track for that, situated as it is down an increasingly narrow road that leads to what could well be the middle of nowhere.
But this is not because of a weakening of the ties that bind. No, those relationships remain just as firm footed as ever, it just takes that little bit more to maintain them. Everyone has such hefty responsibilities these days. It really should be frowned upon.
Thus it was, that as the taxi dropped myself and my always amazing wife, Tina, in the heart of my native Pudsey (yes, like the bear) and began our ill thought out and much-complained-about trundle uphill to The Bankhouse pub I felt like I was stepping back into the past.
Generation Games
Not that The Bankhouse was always one of our most regular haunts. It’s a little off the beaten track for that, situated as it is down an increasingly narrow road that leads to what could well be the middle of nowhere.
It’s a cracking spot for our current meet ups, though, especially on a day like Sunday when the sun did indeed shine. It has a beer garden. It serves food (a little overpriced and a little disappointing judging from this last visit). It has staff who will bring drinks to the table which, given the slightly awkward accessibility is kind of nice.
But that was just the backdrop. What really mattered was the cast of long-term amigos and their newer but no less fabby partners. We even got a visit from two different generations, namely one friend's mother and said friend’s children.
Time Flies
The conversation flowed nicely with old patterns soon reasserting themselves, but it soon became apparent that the turning of the years had made these memories that much more distant. Certain landmarks aren’t there anymore. Certain friends are no longer with us. It lent just the faintest tinge of sadness to what was an afternoon of cheer and laughter. A sense of time passing and taking those memories along with it.
But that was just the backdrop. What really mattered was the cast of long-term amigos and their newer but no less fabby partners. We even got a visit from two different generations, namely one friend's mother and said friend’s children.
Time Flies
The conversation flowed nicely with old patterns soon reasserting themselves, but it soon became apparent that the turning of the years had made these memories that much more distant. Certain landmarks aren’t there anymore. Certain friends are no longer with us. It lent just the faintest tinge of sadness to what was an afternoon of cheer and laughter. A sense of time passing and taking those memories along with it.
Still, there’ll always be more memories to make, no matter how spread out our meet-ups become. I happen to know there are at least some big birthdays on the horizon, and it would seem remiss if those birthdays went unmarked.
That sounds like the ideal chance for an increasingly old group of friends to embarrass themselves again.
Until next time!
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think. My debut novel, The Heart That Died, is available now as both paperback, E-book, and on Kindle Unlimited, so I’m adding the link to that, too.
Oh, and if you like what you look-see, a nice, positive review would also be most welcome.
The Heart That Died
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
That sounds like the ideal chance for an increasingly old group of friends to embarrass themselves again.
Until next time!
#
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think. My debut novel, The Heart That Died, is available now as both paperback, E-book, and on Kindle Unlimited, so I’m adding the link to that, too.
Oh, and if you like what you look-see, a nice, positive review would also be most welcome.
The Heart That Died
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
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