So yeah, with the dazzling weather, I took it upon myself to enjoy it for once rather than sit inside and play Guitar Hero. Actually, that’s a lie: I stand to play Guitar Hero, and I was kinda forced out by my parents to “go and get some air.”
So anyway, I looked for the people I was meant to be meeting who weren’t where I was told they would be and thought, “fuck it.” Not in the mood to endure hours of “you should really be outside” and other annoying parental quips, I headed up the lane to take a walk. The weather was fucking spectacular; birds were singing, bees were fucking about doing that thing they do and the really pointless stream was trickling away to itself. It was quite the scene. Of course, I didn’t stand there all day - you don’t excercise by standing around doing nothing, otherwise I’d be like the thinnest guy in the world
so I walked up the lane to get to that precarious windy road that goes along the back of Portrush. Walking on it’s a bad idea, but I’m pretty sure I’d have a good chance of living if I was fighting a car (not that I’d like to try it…) Walking along in the grass amongst bluebells and all sorts of run-of-the-mill plant life on a warm day was the sort of scene you imagine people doing in the 20’s when people had nothing better to do, and I can definately see an attraction to it. It’s a simple euphoria; you don’t need all sorts of electronic gadgetry to have a good time. Although in this day and age, it certainly makes it easier. I then headed down the Hopefield road and was actually quite saddened to see they’d knocked down the old hospital - only a few years ago I remember chasing my dog through there - and put the land up for sale with development oppertunies in mind. Holy shit, who’d buy a house there? They can’t even fill the existing houses for fucks sake. I walked past at least 10 houses without a car or any sign of life about them on that same stretch of road…it also seems to be quite the exclusive neighbourhood, with really huge houses everywhere. One even had a Porsche parked outside it…I mean, how many people in Northern Ireland have a Porsche?
I then went along Girona Avenue, in the opposite to the way I’d regularly walk if I took the 139 bus home. It was pretty boring to be honest, and nothing stuck out in my mind. Except this slightly creepy old dude at the end of the road who stared at me like I was a terrorist with four heads. I wanted to swear and rant at him, but I needed to press on with my walk. I’ll draw a veil over the whole next part of the walk; it was incredibly mundane and I couldn’t bore myself typing about it, never mind bore you - the reader - who’d have to endure it. Anyway, I ended up at the countryside centre, now closed, and with the ever present rake of camper vans parked outside it. I would have walked along the rocks, but flat thin soled converse aren’t really the right sort of footwear - it hurts like fuck. Skipping ahead again, I ended up outside Landsdowne park where the people I was supposed to go with in the first place were at. The odds of that were quite low, I have to admit. So I joined up with them. Turns out all of them bar Jason were on Skateboards, and Jason was taking Milo for a walk (or was it the other way around?) They were headed in the direction I went so I had to go back the way I came. We stopped at the green outside the Ramada (or Counties if you’re feeling nostalgic) where we basically fucked about on skateboards. I went down twice and failed both times. A video exists somewhere but I cant be arsed looking for it now. We went to the Maxol station on Causeway Street where I bought two Ice Lolly things, both a major disappointment. On the return leg of our trip, I finally shut Jason up by telling him a piece of information he’d been bugging me about for ages. Other than that it was a boring trip back, and we went our separate ways at half five. I walked in the door and ate this chicken and pasta chili type thing which was good, but once I’d ate it my stomach was really sore. I’ve noticed this before - stomach pains when I eat after exercise - and will bring it up with someone if I get it again. Although this time it was probably the excertion system telling me to get a move on.
Theres always problems with things though, and today was no exception. For walking in Converse, I was given huge blisters on two parts of my feet - my wee right toe and the top of my left foot - which are absolutely killer. Being blisters, I have the most peculiar urge to pull the skin off or pop them and let the swelling go down, however these bastards are in such a place that I’d be in total agony for attempting it. Apparantly I also got sunburn for walking about in the sun while wearing black, but I don’t really notice that. My mum said it to me and I’m taking her word for it. Sometimes you just gotta let her have her way..
