I can pinpoint around the time I would feel the Sunday dread: 4:30 PM. Depending on the season, it was either dark, or the sun was still out and it gave you the false sense that you had a lot of tie still. In any event, the prep for the next day nearly crushed the entire Sunday. You captured this well.
Never knew Malcom X had a thing for spreadsheets. Must have missed that in the history books 😆.
I still struggle with the urge to accomplish. This probably has more to do with retirement than the move. But I have embraced Sundays (and les jour fériés) here because they give permission — marching orders, even — to not be doing, always doing. (Our marché guitarist has a pretty consistent repertoire. I’m always happy to hear his version of Michael Jackson’s Beat It!)
It's really dyed in, that urge to accomplish. I imagine that retirement takes a while to adjust to, is its own kind of rediscovery.
I happened to be going through some old files recently and I had captured a series of my old principal's emails in one of them. It brought back a sense of that anxiety that I had forgotten all about.
The markets near here are like small daytime parties some days.
We saw the Limiñanas at Rough Trade East not too long ago. Got to shake their paws and tell them how much we enjoyed their music. French bands tend to come through London as there is a very large French contingent here. Also saw La Femme recently.
As for the pace of life, we have restricted hours here on Sunday, and one gets used to the idea that if the retail day is a slow one, they might just close early on you. Now that we have the large retail park at the bottom of the hill, we largely try and avoid it at the weekends because you can get trapped there.
I can skip the oysters but luv those artichokes. I buy them at the greengrocer here. He is happily open on Sunday as well. I find Sundays are mostly about gardening nowadays. Or swimming. Mike goes cycling.
As for accomplishing stuff, what the things that destroy my plants tell me is that accomplishment is many things. And sometimes it's about planting yet another tomato for it to be eaten by gastropods. I have many tomato plants to feed them.
The snails will only return. This is their country.
As I mentioned to someone recently, the mere fact that this country is known for eating them should be an indicator of just how many of them you should expect to find.
My gawd I love the vibe of this. It got me thinking about exactly when I stopped pushing myself so hard in life, even while still here in the US. Once I quit constantly grinding life got so much quieter, more pleasant and dare I say easier. This shift has nothing to do with money, in fact some of my happiest times of late have been when I've had the least amount of work and money. I am plotting our France arrival quite soon, so the location can match the vibe and it won't feel so rebellious and odd, rather it will just be the way it is.
I can pinpoint around the time I would feel the Sunday dread: 4:30 PM. Depending on the season, it was either dark, or the sun was still out and it gave you the false sense that you had a lot of tie still. In any event, the prep for the next day nearly crushed the entire Sunday. You captured this well.
Never knew Malcom X had a thing for spreadsheets. Must have missed that in the history books 😆.
I still struggle with the urge to accomplish. This probably has more to do with retirement than the move. But I have embraced Sundays (and les jour fériés) here because they give permission — marching orders, even — to not be doing, always doing. (Our marché guitarist has a pretty consistent repertoire. I’m always happy to hear his version of Michael Jackson’s Beat It!)
It's really dyed in, that urge to accomplish. I imagine that retirement takes a while to adjust to, is its own kind of rediscovery.
I happened to be going through some old files recently and I had captured a series of my old principal's emails in one of them. It brought back a sense of that anxiety that I had forgotten all about.
The markets near here are like small daytime parties some days.
We saw the Limiñanas at Rough Trade East not too long ago. Got to shake their paws and tell them how much we enjoyed their music. French bands tend to come through London as there is a very large French contingent here. Also saw La Femme recently.
As for the pace of life, we have restricted hours here on Sunday, and one gets used to the idea that if the retail day is a slow one, they might just close early on you. Now that we have the large retail park at the bottom of the hill, we largely try and avoid it at the weekends because you can get trapped there.
I can skip the oysters but luv those artichokes. I buy them at the greengrocer here. He is happily open on Sunday as well. I find Sundays are mostly about gardening nowadays. Or swimming. Mike goes cycling.
As for accomplishing stuff, what the things that destroy my plants tell me is that accomplishment is many things. And sometimes it's about planting yet another tomato for it to be eaten by gastropods. I have many tomato plants to feed them.
The gatropods never stop. It's an un-ending task of hunting them down and tossing them into the wildflowers.
The snails will only return. This is their country.
As I mentioned to someone recently, the mere fact that this country is known for eating them should be an indicator of just how many of them you should expect to find.
My gawd I love the vibe of this. It got me thinking about exactly when I stopped pushing myself so hard in life, even while still here in the US. Once I quit constantly grinding life got so much quieter, more pleasant and dare I say easier. This shift has nothing to do with money, in fact some of my happiest times of late have been when I've had the least amount of work and money. I am plotting our France arrival quite soon, so the location can match the vibe and it won't feel so rebellious and odd, rather it will just be the way it is.
As a retired teacher, I totally get the Sunday dreads🤣
I am sorry to hear that. But wow, did everyone try to act like it wasn’t a problem…