All things Brighton beautiful

Brighton's about 15 miles or so from where I live.

It's funny living so close to one of the top English tourist resorts. It's not a tourist resort to me. It's...just one of the places where I go shopping for clothes, hardly glance at the sea, avoid like the plague in the summer months...




...and moan bitterly about the price of car parking, which is EXTORTIONATE! (I'm not even sure those are current)

Samuel Johnson said this about Brighton: "...if one had a mind to hang one's self for desperation at being obliged to live there, it would be difficult to find a tree on which to fasten the rope." (perhaps he was overcharged for parking his carriage?)

Come on, Samuel! It's not THAT bad.

Today, I'm going to run right along the front for lots of miles, marathon training. I'm very fed up with hills. Hills are painful.

If I keep moving, the traffic wardens won't get me...

Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat.

Elizabeth Bowen's rather jaundiced view...with which I disagree.

Fate doesn't bother creeping up on me; it's flamboyant, swoops down and grabs me with its talons. Not like a rat. Much more like an eagle. Okay, maybe a bit like THIS rat.

Do I believe in fate? I did yesterday, that's for sure.I experienced some Bad Fate and some Good Fate, both of which made me laugh for their sheer audacity.

The Bad Fate.

I really wanted to listen to Dixon of Dock Green on the radio, between 1.30 and 2 in the afternoon. I scheduled my work so that it would be lunchtime for me. At 1.29, there I was seated at the kitchen table, lunch in front of me, radio tuned and BAM...there was a powercut, which lasted until 2.03.

The Good Fate.

The night before, I'd been discussing my bucket list - all the things I want to do before I die. Right at the top of that list, I told everyone, is to see the Northern Lights. Further down the list is to run marathons and half marathons again.

I logged on to my computer. There, on my home page was an advert for the:

Polar Night Halfmarathon

 
"The Polar Night Half-marathon takes place in Tromsø on Saturday January 7th 2012. At this time of the winter the sun is completely absent from the Tromsø sky, and the only visible sources of light are the moon and the occasional northern lights. This is a race where the runners face the challenge of icy snow and biting cold, as well as the race itself. Are you up for it? Welcome to an exceptional experience. Welcome to the Polar Night Half-marathon in Tromsø."

I SO want to do this...