10th December 2017
The wind howled, and the rain hammered down through the night. Snow is very rare in this area, it’s not until you drive out of the village that you can share what the rest of the county has endured.
I took Nicola and Colin for lunch at a local pub, all low beams and big fires. A party of old folk joined the table next to us. As they surveyed their table, each couldn’t decide which chair to choose. Each one of them had a reason why “that” chair wasn’t suitable, too draughty, in a corridor, there were so many variants. After a prolonged game of musical chairs, but without the music, a compromise was reached. The designated driver was the one to sit in the draughty seat. He sat, dressed in a thick coat, hunched up sipping his fruit juice, whilst the old girls debated which wine to choose. It was better than a soup opera, our table was transfixed with the performance. The bottle arrived, and the glasses were filled, soon after, the cackling began. “We’ll go for the full three courses” said the lady with the obviously coloured hair. Now this pub is renowned for it’s ample servings, both Nicola and Colin gasped, they were thinking that all that food could kill them, so Colin moved his chair to give the paramedics an un-hindered way through, should they be needed.
“Oh this prawn cocktail is a bit filling” said the smallest lady, death by heart attack beckoning. The driver man shuffled in his seat, the fruit drink had done its job, he toddled off to the first of five visits to the toilet.
When the main course came, there was silence, a few mutters of “Oh that looks nice” but no immediate words of panic. We got on and finished our meal, and waited for any comments. The peace was broken by the words “Oh very nice, but they give you too much” We got up to leave, and I looked across, their plates were a sight of devastation. They have scraped up the turkey with the stuffing, and everything else was left. Colin likes his food, and I could see him eyeing up the roast potatoes, but Nicola made sure that eyeing was all it was.
We never knew if they had deserts, there were no ambulance sirens that we heard, so we concluded that they survived another day, and another feast.
Another Lifetime to go 