An outing!!

When you live in a tier 3 area in Britain opportunities for outings are few and far between which is why I was particularly grateful to discover that the reason Ash has stopped wearing his waterproof coat even when the rain is lashing against the windows as he goes out of the door is because it rustles.  This is interesting because it didn't used to rustle or at least if it did that rustling wasn't a problem but now, suddenly, it is and I can only assume that Ash's hearing has changed or at least the way he tunes into sounds has changed.  Whatever the reason he now refuses to wear the old coat and, as there's no point in trying to persuade him otherwise, I suggested we went shopping for a new one which meant that this morning saw us on our merry way to our 'local' outdoor shop in the big city.  And we had a lovely time which isn't always a given nowadays.  We've never liked ordinary shopping, you'd never have seen either of us in a shopping centre and even buying new clothes was only done when everything we had was beyond repair but give us an outdoor shop and we're good to go even, it seems, in the midst of dementia.  Ash happily tried on coats (although only of a specific make) until he found the one he liked, he was able to make a final choice and then waited patiently while I looked around for a new coat I really didn't need and then it was time to come home.  Back just in time for lunch and with the feeling that we'd actually achieved something together which makes a nice change.  The only slight disappointment came when he forgot all about the new coat and went out for a walk without one at all.  However by tomorrow morning it will be on the hook where his old one used to live and he'll stay dry.

For your information this afternoon's walk on the treadmill was along the side of Lake Samsonvale in Queensland, Australia.  Not as interesting as the hike I did two days ago but lovely all the same and the one big thing I realised was that when I'm doing these walks, and listening to something through my headphones, there's no room in my mind for dementia, Ash, me or life in general and that's a very liberating thing.  I've also discovered that I keep coming across hikes that look interesting but the next time I search I've forgotten the names and can't find them again so today I've started a list of videos as I've seen them along with the length of the hike then I can add to it as I go and work my way through them depending on the length of the podcast I want to listen to.  So life doesn't have to be either boring or sedentary but it does take a little planning and sometimes (the need for a new coat as an example) a stroke of luck. 

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