Turns out the first of November is a holiday over here. All Saints Day/All Hallows Day/La Dia De Los Muertos or some combination of the above. It’s lucky Halloween isn’t a big deal here because we had a spectacular storm last night with thunder and lightning and lots of rain, but today was back to lovely settled sunny weather. My supervisor Eric and I had made a tentative plan earlier in the week to go for a walk, so I messaged him this morning, and I’ve just now got back from a very full and enjoyable day. First up Eric gave me a lift back to his house for a family lunch, no big deal except he turned up on a motorbike. I haven’t ridden pillion for decades, and never behind a French motorcyclist. Equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. Had a fabulous lunch (during which there was banter about the red wine/cheese knife incident, so am hoping that’s forgiven) then off for a walk. The rest of the day was how I imagine it would be like if you had dementia and were being looked after by a loving family*. I really had no idea what the plan was for the day, so just smiled and nodded and tried to take everything as it came without fretting too much. After our walk we went for a drive and explored a local town. Then we drove around some more until it got dark. Wasn’t sure then if I’d be going home or what, but no, we went back to Eric’s house. By now it was around 7:30, so was I going home to have dinner or… but then Eric’s lovely wife started cooking dinner, so I guessed I was staying. Probably a good experience for me to relax and not feel I have to be in control of everything all the time.
*hoping this is what’s ahead for me rather than sitting in a puddle of my own urine in some low rent rest home out in Upper Hutt somewhere.