Jump Back Up July: I Need a Distraction (Rievaulx Abbey Part 2)
More from my holiday; on Thursday we went to Whitby, famous for Dracula.
I also decided to set a few long and short-term goals:
1) Learn Spanish, in however long it takes me (setting a goal for something like this means too much pressure); I've since downloaded DuoLingo on my computer to help me. I'll try to do this for five minutes a day.
2) Climb 500m while out walking, using Strava recordings - this is for the Hoka One One Challenge - I've managed 126m so far, mostly because of the Whitby trip (it has 199 stairs up to the abbey).
3) I think I should also start learning my taekwon-do theory, if I am serious about doing my grading in September.
As I predicted, Whitby wasn't easy to do the social distancing in; there were a lot of people. The really annoying thing was that just about every public conveninece was pay-per-use, and the ones we tried were not well maintained. We did consider leaving earlier than planned, it was so chaotic.
I did see two girls getting attacked by seagulls while trying to eat fish and chips; it was very sudden. I got a shot of the aftermath.
Despite the crowds people, Whitby is quite picturesque, with some good views around the river.
I also learned a few things I didn't know about Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) like this piece of information about what inspired the Caucus Race in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The abbey was a bit quieter than the rest of the town, and more peaceful.
We were intrigued by the wigwams that were being put up here.
I also spotted a couple of oddities in town, like this street name.
And a subtle improvement to an otherwise ordinary bollard.
We drove to Helmsley and got fish and chips to take away; we ate back at the cottage, and then had a walk into Rievaulx, and around the abbey. We noticed that little monk figurines had been put out - they must have been for the kids on their school holidays to look for. They all had names like "Basil", "Benedict" and "Peter".
The last day of a holiday is rarely one I look forward to. I was doing some offering for Offer Friday, so not only did I agree to help with welcoming at church tomorrow, but I offered to buy our shopping (some of which was gifts) at the farm shop we visited.
My recollection of going to a farm shop last year was that it was a bit chaotic, with difficulty socially distancing, but this was wasn't so bad.
The shop was almost completely empty - except for staff, and one man wearing a cowboy-type hat, who didn't look like he worked there, but was stood in the middle of the shop floor just looking at us, wearing a face covering. There's something unnerving about being stared at intently by someone who has a coronavirus mask on, as the mask makes them somewhat devoid of any kind of facial expression, so it's impossible to know if they are smiling at you under the mask. I break out into a sweat anyway if I know I am being stared at.
About five minutes, a man who I guessed worked at the shop appeared and started shaking hands with Cowboy Hat Man; I was intrigued as to who he was, for example, was he a supplier come for a meeting.
I was spending the day trying to distract myself from negative thoughts; I think I did well, just getting out and about was stopping me from thinking about them too much.
On the way back, we visited Brodsworth Hall, which had gardens that felt like a maze, but it felt like the appeal was limited, and it got a bit boring after we had visited every nook and cranny. I managed to log just over an hour of activity for the Sungod AIRAS Strava Challenge (this only requires three hours).
We noticed that a man was at least cutting the grass outside the church; it seemed like it needed it.
The drive to the service station on the way back felt interminable; when we stopped, we did at least find a shady spot, although it was near to a group of quite loud men, who were staying in the adjacent hotel. We decided they were either off on a stag do, or they were builders/road workers who had to live in a bubble together.
It's been a nice holiday, but I think it's time to get back to some normality. I hope we all stay sensible on "Freedom Day" come Monday. Rosie Jones said last night on the Last Leg that she was very anxious about it.
I also decided to set a few long and short-term goals:
1) Learn Spanish, in however long it takes me (setting a goal for something like this means too much pressure); I've since downloaded DuoLingo on my computer to help me. I'll try to do this for five minutes a day.
2) Climb 500m while out walking, using Strava recordings - this is for the Hoka One One Challenge - I've managed 126m so far, mostly because of the Whitby trip (it has 199 stairs up to the abbey).
3) I think I should also start learning my taekwon-do theory, if I am serious about doing my grading in September.
As I predicted, Whitby wasn't easy to do the social distancing in; there were a lot of people. The really annoying thing was that just about every public conveninece was pay-per-use, and the ones we tried were not well maintained. We did consider leaving earlier than planned, it was so chaotic.
I did see two girls getting attacked by seagulls while trying to eat fish and chips; it was very sudden. I got a shot of the aftermath.
Despite the crowds people, Whitby is quite picturesque, with some good views around the river.
I also learned a few things I didn't know about Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) like this piece of information about what inspired the Caucus Race in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The abbey was a bit quieter than the rest of the town, and more peaceful.
We were intrigued by the wigwams that were being put up here.
I also spotted a couple of oddities in town, like this street name.
And a subtle improvement to an otherwise ordinary bollard.
We drove to Helmsley and got fish and chips to take away; we ate back at the cottage, and then had a walk into Rievaulx, and around the abbey. We noticed that little monk figurines had been put out - they must have been for the kids on their school holidays to look for. They all had names like "Basil", "Benedict" and "Peter".
The last day of a holiday is rarely one I look forward to. I was doing some offering for Offer Friday, so not only did I agree to help with welcoming at church tomorrow, but I offered to buy our shopping (some of which was gifts) at the farm shop we visited.
My recollection of going to a farm shop last year was that it was a bit chaotic, with difficulty socially distancing, but this was wasn't so bad.
The shop was almost completely empty - except for staff, and one man wearing a cowboy-type hat, who didn't look like he worked there, but was stood in the middle of the shop floor just looking at us, wearing a face covering. There's something unnerving about being stared at intently by someone who has a coronavirus mask on, as the mask makes them somewhat devoid of any kind of facial expression, so it's impossible to know if they are smiling at you under the mask. I break out into a sweat anyway if I know I am being stared at.
About five minutes, a man who I guessed worked at the shop appeared and started shaking hands with Cowboy Hat Man; I was intrigued as to who he was, for example, was he a supplier come for a meeting.
I was spending the day trying to distract myself from negative thoughts; I think I did well, just getting out and about was stopping me from thinking about them too much.
On the way back, we visited Brodsworth Hall, which had gardens that felt like a maze, but it felt like the appeal was limited, and it got a bit boring after we had visited every nook and cranny. I managed to log just over an hour of activity for the Sungod AIRAS Strava Challenge (this only requires three hours).
We noticed that a man was at least cutting the grass outside the church; it seemed like it needed it.
The drive to the service station on the way back felt interminable; when we stopped, we did at least find a shady spot, although it was near to a group of quite loud men, who were staying in the adjacent hotel. We decided they were either off on a stag do, or they were builders/road workers who had to live in a bubble together.
It's been a nice holiday, but I think it's time to get back to some normality. I hope we all stay sensible on "Freedom Day" come Monday. Rosie Jones said last night on the Last Leg that she was very anxious about it.