Thursday, December 2
Woods, 11:45
Today I decided that I could not go on like this a moment longer. I realised this in the early morning and then went on like this for several hours longer.
I have had my winter cold/flu for almost two weeks now. The first nine or ten days went as expected but the lingering cough continues to linger. In the last two weeks a combination of feeling like shit and weather below freezing point have kept me indoors. My daily routine has shrunk to something like waking up, eating breakfast, going to the workroom, finishing work, eating, going to bed.
Today, no more: I decide that the cough will linger whatever I do and that what I will do will include a long walk. However I also agree that a long walk would make more sense at the height of the sun rather than after breakfast in the near dark.
I walk down Riskutie and turn off to the right into the woods just before reaching the end. I then walk into the woods up the hill and spend twenty minutes or more navigating my way through the slightly slippery whiteness.
I stop at one point and take a photograph of where the path goes. If nothing else I will now have documentary evidence if I find myself going in a big circle.
By the time I get home I have thoroughly tested my new earbuds, purchased on a trip to the secret Finnair shop. They come from a Helsinki startup called Joyactor who make everything from recycled material, or imply they do, and whose FAQ consists of the words “Coming Soon”.
They have a very good sound, and I spend my walk listening to Taj Mahal during his Hawaiian period: the album Sacred Island, in fact.