Halloween -7

I said good morning to Alexa whilst preparing the cats’ breakfast and she informed me it was seven days to go until Halloween, then did an impersonation of Hannibal Lecter.

We walked up to the local Morrisons later, picking up a couple of abandoned trollies in the street on the way. Civic duty. There are people out there with no cars so I don’t blame them for borrowing a trolley to walk home; it would just be good if the recovery could be organised.

One week to Halloween and all the usual tat is up for sale. This giant cat head is supposed to be scary, which it isn’t. Comical and rather too big perhaps but not really frightening, unless you have a phobia about felines with hydrocephalus. 

The Yoga Mama came for an overnighter and unwisely mentioned the story of Noah, which turned out to be something of a jinx as by evening the wind and rain were so ferocious that we were all wondering if another flood of biblical proportions wasn’t imminent. There was something of a gloom about the place which The Dizzle did his best to dispel through unremitting cheerfulness; it was partly successful but I began to wish I had bought the cat’s head home just for a laugh after all, and maybe just to see what Dylan and Scout’s reaction would be.

We played cards and did burger night. The weather and the nights drawing in precluded anything more. Started watching "Yesterday" but I baled out after 45 mins; we saw it at the cinema last year and I didn’t have the energy to enjoy the rehashed Beatles tribute, even though it is musically very good. 

Have just finished reading The Traitor and The Spy by Ben McIntyre. It’s a true story of Cold War espionage and reveals just how complex, clever, ridiculous and incompetent people can be. Spying is long periods of routine with occasional bursts of adrenaline and terror. It is 99% logistics and 1% excitement and a lot of lonely days and nights to boot. An exhausting book really; I felt ground down and desperate for it to end, which is probably what most spies feel after a career of even medium length. And probably a good metaphor for 2020, which has arguably been one long halloween style nightmare ...