If exercise is the way we nourish our bodies through a national crisis then Art, surely, is the way to nourish the soul.
TV, Film, Books, Music and with events streamed online even Art and Theatre buffs can get their fix so what’s your favourite?
Here at McConnell Towers we favour TV for it’s sociability. Many a happy evening spent here shouting at BGT! We’re currently watching ‘Race Across the World’ on catchup (thanks for the recommendation Michelle Stammers) and the debate about which of us would cope best trekking across South America with only £6, 2 pairs of pants and a paper map is insightful if not a little hurtful at times. I always thought I was a fairly good map reader!
Big John finds his escapism through film whilst I’ve always been a reader and have rediscovered the joy of a good book in ‘lockdown’. I’ve just finished ‘The Enchanted April’. I’m not recommending it, it certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but in it is the most wonderful description of arriving at a holiday destination. They arrive, at night, at an Italian castle they’ve rented for the month. They’re rather nervous to begin with as their luggage has disappeared, it’s dark, it’s raining and they are left on the quayside. They follow a light, climbing steps that lead through wet grass with invisible flowers everywhere that they can smell but not see. Having left a damp, cold London in March the arrival in the castle was a wonderful moment.
The best holiday arrival we had was Kefalonia a few years ago. Those of you who have been will know the island is stunningly beautiful with Pine clad hillsides that drop down to meet the sparkling blue of the Ionian Sea below. We were lucky enough to arrive in the evening just as the sun set. Our small hotel formed a horseshoe around a lush Medierranean garden where a grassy path lead to the headland and the sea beyond. It was, literally, like landing in Heaven.
A far cry from those ‘no named accommodation’ deals of our early 20s. Chugging round on some stinking coach, hangover threatening and hoping that the prison block you’d just ground to a halt in front of was not yours then later wishing it was when you found out you were staying in a concrete bunker in a deserted patch of no mans land absolutely miles from anywhere!
So many happy memories and all from just a page or two of book!
There might be limits on where we can go physically this weekend but there’s no limits at all as to where you can go in your head so make some time for Art as well as exercise SE Fitness!