Gratitude

 

Welcome to another sunny Sunday in South Manchester, where the sky is blue and the temperature is perfect for a five mile walk in the local countryside. 

The football season is well under way and my team, Walsall, have started the season without defeat and ready to make a decent assault on the upper echelons of the table with the ultimate prize to gain promotion.

What else is there to do on a lovely Sunday? Answer some silly questions for Sunday Stealing. 

Let’s take the plunge.

1. A person I’m glad to have in my life.

I am not going to name just one person; instead I am going to shout out to all of my friends and family. Without them I would be incomplete and that would make the feel the opposite of glad.

2. Something I find comfort in.

I find comfort in anything that allows me to escape the daily grind. Music is a good thing to comfort me. I have a fairly eclectic taste including progressive rock, heavy metal, some pop music, classical music and there is always something to satisfy my mood or even to change it. Music is good for the soul.

3. My favourite part of the morning

Dawn. At this time of the year, on work days, I wake up at 6am and by 6:20 I am outside taking a reasonably fast paced walk around my local area. There are few people around and it is quite peaceful and now, in September, the sun rises as I walk allowing me to take some decent photographs of a Manchester sunrise. Like this one, taken earlier this week.

4. My favourite memory

There are far too many to single any one of them out. 

5. An accomplishment I’m proud of

I’m quite pleased that I have had the chance to visit some amazing countries that you would normally not consider as part of a holiday, like China and Russia. 

6. An opportunity I’m grateful for

As much as I am disillusioned with my career choice, I can honestly say that over the years I have been fortunate to be able to travel a lot thanks to my job. One day I will tell you what I do specifically – the day after I retire probably.

7. My favourite song (and why)

I don’t have an all time favourite song but I do have current favourites. Here are two of them - one ambient pop song, one symphonic metal song that hopefully illustrates my eclectic taste.

8. A future event I’m excited about.

The holiday I will be taking when all of this coronavirus nonsense is put to bed. Mrs PM and I had planned three holidays this year and have been nowhere. We will either be going to Spain, Italy or Greece – or all three.

9. My favourite area in my home.

My “man cave” as Mrs PM jokingly calls it. The room I am in now has a TV hooked up to a Playstation 4, a laptop and my music system. We have two sofas and we use it to entertain people (I trust you remember those heady days when we could invite people to our houses). Due to the lockdown we have converted our house into three pubs, figuratively speaking. The “man cave” is pub number two, called “The Warrior’s Arms” and is where we will sit and enjoy a beer while listening to music that we both like. It is so called because we have a replica terracotta warrior similar to those found in China near to the wonderful city of Xi’An.

Here he is:

10. Something beautiful I saw today.

The beautiful weather we have at the moment. The temperature is pleasant and the leaves are starting to turn as Autumn arrives. The sun shining on the trees and other foliage is very charming.

11. My guilty pleasure.

I don’t like the phrase “guilty pleasure”. If it makes you happy then why feel guilty about it?

I would say this film – but I don’t feel at all guilty.

12. Something I love about a family member

My two lads are both very funny guys – and as you can imagine, I am quite often the butt of their jokes. I don’t mind; I give as good as I get.

13. A compliment that made me feel good

I’ve had this compliment for most of my life. I look a lot younger than I am. Actually, maybe that is not quite true at the moment because I have a beard with some flecks of grey in it that makes me look more like my age. It is my lockdown beard and it will eventually come off so I can regain my youthful appearance.

14. The item I treasure the most.

I’m not really a religious person but I have a large leather-bound Bible that was passed down from my mum’s dad to me. My grandad was a very strict Roman Catholic and he bought it in 1950 as a brand new book. It is absolutely beautiful. It will be passed on eventually to one of my sons, probably the oldest one (as tradition dictates).

15. My favourite part about nature

I love the sky both during the day and at night. Whenever I am out and about I have my phone ready to capture some of the wonderful skies that present themselves to me, in particular sunrises and sunsets (like the photograph above). 

One time, in Greece, we rented a villa for a family holiday and it was a little inland on the island of Corfu. Because it was reasonably far away from the nearest town (a seaside resort) we could lie down on the sun loungers at night time and just watch the stars with little or no light pollution. 

It was wonderful.

16. A book I loved reading

Mrs PM and I recently watched the Jason Bourne movies starring Matt Damon. They are very good but nothing like the original books written by Robert Ludlum. So once more I am going to cheat and name three books rather than one: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. If you liked the movies, you will love the books, especially because the stories are completely different, particularly the two sequels.

I recommend them.

17. A freedom I’m grateful for

The freedom to openly criticize my government and write down on this blog what I really think about Boris Johnson, the head clown in a court of jesters.

18. My favourite part of the evening.

Dusk. As I said above, I love a good sunrise – but I also love a good sunset. Like this one taken a couple of years ago in Marbella, Spain.

19. One good thing that happened today.

Well I haven’t done an awful lot today so far so I will mention something good that happened yesterday. Mrs PM and I enjoyed a socially distanced Italian meal in one of our local restaurants. Very enjoyable.

20. How I show gratitude for my friends.

By just being there for them.