Visions of angels

I had some more chemo yesterday, a new one for me. So far I’ve not been nearly as bad as I was last time. The only side effect is that this morning my sense of balance seems to have gone a bit skewy. I’m grateful for the fact that in my home I’m always near walls or furniture to grab hold of before I fall. I’m not feeling as pain-filled this morning so maybe that’s a hopeful sign this will work.

 

On the way there we were dumbfounded by the sheer beauty of the autumn colours - the reds of Virginia creeper, the gold of birches. On the floor lay a carpet of gold from fallen leaves. Fabulous.

 

We discovered one of the delights of travelling up to Kendal for the treatment. Kendal, being in Cumbria rather than Lancashire, is in Tier 3 as far as the English Covid-19 regulations are concerned. This meant, after drying out at the hospital for the best part of 4 hours, we were able to stop in a bar just for a drink. There was no obligation to have a substantial meal.

 

We spent a pleasant hour, talking to a friendly couple of friends sitting at a nearby table who’d just gone on 13km walk. One of the ladies was from Brazil, though she’s been in this country a long time. She bemoaned the fact she wouldn’t be able to get to see her 90 year old mother for Christmas this year, not with all the Covid restrictions.  She just daren’t risk the multiple long flights & quarantine restrictions this year.

 

The other told us the tale of a pub somewhere that sold a 22inch pizza to eat there to a person on their own & was then told a pizza did not constitute a substantial meal. A 22 inch pizza! I couldn’t eat all that on my own!

 

Eventually we wended our way home. The skies opened up. The rain fell so fast & heavy we had to drive at 30mph on the motorway as otherwise, because of the sheer amount of spray on the road, you couldn’t see the lights of the car in front of you to safely brake in an emergency.

 

Then at one part the dark grey clouds opened up to reveal a lighter grey cloud. On that light cloud shone a rainbow. We almost felt we would see angels & cherubs appear any minute.

 

On we came home to what sounded like the sound of hail belting down on the bonnet. As we drew to a stop at some traffic lights you could see there almost an inch of water all over the surface of the road. The drains just weren’t coping with the amount of water descending.

 

 Finally we got home to find the house & walls skirted by white. Hail? Snow? We weren’t sure which. We were just glad to get home into the warmth & safety of home.