Saturday 7th October 2023
Edinburgh is wet, perhaps it was the pre-emptive tears for not getting through to the next round of the Rugby World Cup. But I was itching to get outside by this afternoon. There was a lull in the rain, although the mist was still thick and the rail bridges were hidden. I set out for a walk.
I wore my yellow ski jacket. This jacket has a history. It starts on 1988, yes that long ago. I was on my gap year, living with my sister and was totally miserable. I couldn't get a job doing TV sound, so I had applied and got rejected for everything. The pile of rejection letters got bigger every week and every two weeks I had to 'sign on' at the job centre for my 'social support' of £29- per week. Unlike nowadays, there were no jobs anywhere and 'no vacancies' signs in every window. I checked the 'Evening Times' job section every night and one night, late November, I spotted my job - a Chalet maid in Switzerland. Something inside clicked. I couldn't cook, couldn't speak French, and hadn't seen snow in 16 years but I knew the job was mine, even though I'd only be getting £25- per week, £4 less than doing nothing on the dole!
I sailed through the interview in Edinburgh, but I had to buy my own ski jacket. It was about £50- but it was Goretex. I had no idea what that meant though, but it was our 'uniform', so my sister managed to pull together some money. I jetted off to work in this expensive jacket and I am so glad to have kept it all these years.
My late mum wore it on her bike in the hideous early morning frost, in wintery South Africa. There's been so many times that I've debated donating it away, but I still have it. Today I was very grateful for it's comfort, waterproofing and heat without the steam. Comedian, Billy Connolly says 'there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes ' and today I appreciated that statement. I also appreciated the use of my cousin's cute (never worn) wellington boots!
My walk was delightful, and I loved seeing both the cruise ship and bridge appear through the rainy mist. The vegetation looked wintery and the water lapped hungrily at the rocks on the shore. I reached an old quarry which I knew was my turn around point. I wondered about the ghosts of old steel tracks and almost heard the noise of the workers with the sounds of rocks moving. I had a moment facing a noisy Robin and we both eyed each other up.
I popped by at my uncle and had a quick chit chat. Cutting through a shady path, I was back in time to watch more rugby and not bond with the cats, haha.
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