Day at Wimbledon!

Sport, as you might have gathered, isn't really my thing. Until recently.

When I saw wimbledon on the telly, everything looked the same. Everyone in white on the same pitches, hitting a ball about and then somehow, Andy Murray wins. For me, it was about as interesting as football and even less so than cleaning the floor with a toothbrush. 

But, when my cousin suggested that I come to Wimbledon, my perception suddenly changed. It wasn't about the sport that I was going. It was more about the atmosphere. Strawberries, cream, Pimm's and sunshine. That was Wimbledon. And that was a true English summer. 

So my auntie and I hopped on the train, stopped off at Sainsbury's, bought our supplies and collected our tickets. 

Now, I have no idea how to score tennis. Something about lines and shouting ''OUT!" I was excited to see the games, but I didn't really know how I would cope with the middle 'slog' when I had no idea what was going on and who was getting points. 

But, as soon as we got in there, my enthusiasm started kicking in, my cousin whispering to me the techniques and rules of play. 

My first game was the BEST! And it probably didn't help that I was watching the 3rd highest ranked player in the world: Stan Wawrinka! 

GO STAN!

 It was a brilliant game and I came this close to touching him as he left the court!

After that game, I thought that I had pretty well solidified my knowledge of tennis. I knew the rules, or so I thought. Until I was introduced to breaking serve and suddenly lost all sense of the game. I couldn't remember how may sets you had to win, or games or what gave you an ADVANTAGE point (if that's even what's it's called). 

We flitted about for a few hours afterwards, snapping shots of a topless Mahut and taking shameless selfies on Henderson Hill. 

Mahut

Shameless Selfie 

I was quite contented to just sit on the hill, eating a picnic. It seemed so surreal to watch Federer on the TV and know that he was actual a stone's throw away!

For our final game we went back to Court 2 to watch seed Jelena Jankovic lose to Kaia Kanepi! We couldn't have planned it better.

Jankovic

Kanepi

I was on a roll and walking the wrong way to the train station we came across a gold postbox - my first one! And it was Andy Murray's - an obligatory photo ensued. 

Now, I've never been to Wimbledon. In fact, I've never even really had the urge to go. But when the opportunity was thrown at me, there was no negotiating the fact that I was going! 

So, as I watched hit after hit from racket to ball, I sudden wave came over me. 

I watched the ball skid across the court. My auntie had told me that you could buy tennis balls that had been used throughout the day from a certain kiosk. She said it was a relatively cheap way to get a souvenir. 

Then it got deep. 

I realised that all the pictures I'd been snapping and any souvenirs that I would have of the day were just material. I couldn't take them to the grave. I could only have the experience. The memory. And why did I even need the memory? It would be nice, of course. But it wouldn't get me anywhere. 

What, I thought, What is experience? 

What is experience if not just being able to say: "Yep, I've done that!" 

I began to panic. Maybe I shouldn't just be in life for the experience of watching. My experiences need to be doing. And in that short moment, I made a resolve to find something that I absolutely LOVED and do it with fervent passion for the rest of my life. 

I soon knocked myself out of this trance, before it got too deep and centred around what the point of life was if we were to die. 

Apart from that slight mishap however, I had the most brilliant day and came out of it with a new drive and motivation. Sport: they say it's good for you! (In more ways than one!) 

Caroline Wozniacki (potentially???)

When the saints come marching in

Life is full of experiences and the new ones can't always compare to the old ones.

The carnival was perhaps one of the best things about coming back to the village where I lived so many of my years. It was an old experience. One of those precious ones.

As I arrived at a friend's house for the second leg of my moving houses until I finished work, 30 people were dressed in costumes and wigs. The front door was open and overflowing with people as though it was a can of beans. But the little chatter, excitement and mass of colour took me back to some place special.

It turned back the clock. Took away all the nastiness, the privatisation of individual lives and angry mob of technology. And it brought back family time, picnics, horse and carts but most importantly a massive expression of character. 

It was the latter that's my favourite. And as I sat on the lawn waiting for girls and boys adorned in colourful 'cartoon' outfits, a boy told his friend: "we're from Old Basing. Mighty, mighty Old Basing." It wasn't so much that we were mighty in the sense that we had some grand influence within the UK but we had, for one day a year, a colourful union of people who came together in hoards in the sun. And that was a very powerful statement. 

It was a shame that I couldn't be with mum and dad and my brothers on this day, but, as though in their memory, I sat on the grass banks I used to remember, and watched the parade come to me. 

Old memories are great. And then a new experience hit me: I found it slightly strange to be peeing in a port-a-loo. It wasn't for the sweltering heat but the fact that I had never actually used one. When I told myself, I found that prospect weird. Not that it should be but I had just never had an excuse to use such a toilet. And for certain I wasn't  imagining it to feel like I was riding in a car: gear stick and everything at my side. 

A port-a-loo. How novel! It took me somewhere else. I felt truly rounded by the experience. Merging old and new: how exciting! 

The Remainder of Eden

It was such a shame that I had chosen the morning of the most beautiful day to snooze until 11. The sun was absolutely gorgeous. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the air, though not warm, still meant that you didn't have to bundle up in millions of layers and bind a scarf round your neck endless times.

This day happened also to be the day I'd reserved for completing all the weeks homework. It couldn't have been more ill-planned. Nevertheless, it was still perfect to combine some of my favourite things with some of my less favourite. 

I took my freshly prepared picnic and homework on my bike out to the common. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

I'm a solitary person by nature anyway. It seems sad that sitting in the park on a bench on your own, pleases me. But it does and that's what I did.

I absolutely love days like this; when everyone comes out. People unite. Families walk together. One of the happiest sights I saw today was a father cycling on a purpose made 2 man bike with his wheelchair bound son at the front. A day out, doesn't get much better than that!

Picnic: chicken mayo sandwich, apple doughnut and mini trifle

Lovers in the corner :D

Catching up on some reading whilst I enjoy the sun!

Pinecone

 

Set up camp for watching the sun set!