How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
I was going along, minding my own business, when things started to go wrong. You know that you want to carry on the same way as you have done for decades, but it’s impossible.
Life is a process of getting older, bits don’t exactly drop off, but they stop working properly. Illness and health can have a massive impact. Sometimes you can feel better, other times you feel worse and that causes problems and pressure to deal with.
Youth is a wonderful thing but it’s over so soon and we don’t appreciate it until its gone. The trouble is, if you enjoy your youth you might not last to see old age!
I had a work computer before one at home. The screen was covered in green writing to add information. There were no pictures, you had to use a mouse and keyboard. If you wanted to get on the Internet you had to use a modem. That made funny squeaky noises when it commented. I remember we had to defragment the computer every few months. That meant spending ages waiting for all the files on the computer to defragment. But you had to watch it so you could click a button at the end. I also remember you had to send information by fax.
I love cycling, it’s been a while since I did any, but I still love it on TV. The tour de France, the tour of Britain, the Vuelta, I try and catch all of them when I can.
I think Mark Cavendish was a brilliant sprinter. He won more stages than any other cyclist in the history of the tour. I think it was 35 over 15 years. He’s from the isle of Man and represented it well.
I like the female tours aswell but they aren’t as well publicised and I’m not sure who the best racers are.
I remember riding down hills and trying to keep up with my hubby who was very fast. He even came third in a big race once against tricyclists. He was the real cyclist, but I’m glad he got me into the sport.
“The name Christine has its origins in the English language and carries the meaning Follower of Christ. It is a feminine name derived from the masculine name Christian, which itself originates from the Greek word christianos. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages and has since remained widely used in various cultures around the world.”
And yet when I looked up WordPress free image library to find something to illustrate this only four pictures appear. This was the prettiest one, but really not relevant!
I suppose the name has always had some influence on me, even though I don’t really call myself Christian I follow a lot of Christianity’s rules. I believe in compassion, care, equality, freedom, respect, charity. I think the world needs to try and work towards all these things.
Maybe being called Christine is like nominative determinism, the name pushes you into certain paths? I don’t know but I think it influenced me.
In the 1980’s we went to visit a friend from college for the first time. It was a journey we would make every couple of years until he moved up to the North of England.
We lived in the Midlands and I’d learnt to drive about 6 months before. I was driving a Morris Marina.
We took the M6 then M5 motorways until it ran out and changed to an A road. We stopped off for breakfast at a service station because the journey was about 240 miles. I hadn’t been on a motorway very often and as we came out of the service station I ended up on the North bound slip road! I did something illegal. I reversed back down the road and then took the South road!
Luckily the route was very simple, we got to Plymouth, and the house we were visiting was a few hundred yards away from the motorway junction. I remember we took bicycles on the roof of the car so the rest of the week was spent cycling to beaches and visiting various interesting places. The trip back was uneventful!
This was pre satnav and we used maps to navigate. To be honest I still use an A to Z if I want to find somewhere. But my driving is restricted to short journeys these days.
What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
Not me!
Old, not a word I dread, as long as my mind and body continue to work. I want to keep going. I don’t think there is anything after life, I seriously doubt it, so I want to be me for as long as I can.
Health is the problem. Co-morbidities are flung at me at a rapid rate. One thing or another to take tablets for, carefully balanced to keep me going. Unless the pharmacy can’t get my pills, they are out of stock, suppliers let them down. Almost every month there is a problem where I’m left owed something.
After all that I would like to leave a legacy of my art. I hope my paintings won’t get thrown out, maybe I can keep going for seberal more years. I will try.