What a great Sunday – a beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies, although cold. Although nothing was planned, after a hard workout and a shower, I decided to go to Stourbridge.

Stourbridge is the second most important town in the region and, arguably, the most significant for my childhood.

What was even better was that I walked along the canal, and the reflections of the beautiful blue sky and the greenery of the trees on the water were quite striking. The ducks and swans were out in force, so on my way, I stopped to feed them and take photos.

My beautiful new watch was tracking my steps, calories burned, elevation, and so on. What really matters to me is distance, time, and the number of steps.

The second unconscious decision of the day was that I accidentally went on a spending spree. I had seen some nice Bermuda shorts two weeks earlier in the same shop where I had bought my Panama hat. I am a bit confused about clothes sizes between Brazil and the UK. In Brazil, I am usually a 44 or 46 at most; in England, after trying on three different sizes, I now know that I am a 38 waist.

After buying two Bermuda shorts and a pair of flip-flops for less than 30 pounds, which I thought was very reasonable, I popped into the pound shop on the main High Street and bought a ton of stuff. Buying good quality things cheaply is one of my greatest pleasures, almost to the level of sex.

I also popped into the home bargain and other shops, and found a Type C charger for my watch. I went to Gregg’s and bought four sausage rolls for the price of three. They sell pastries that are very similar to salgado snacks in Brazil. As I was leaving, a tramp suddenly appeared in front of me, asking for food, so I gave him one of the rolls.

How good is that???

At the pound shop, I bought another bird feeder and a different type of bird food to see if a different kind might be more popular with my feathered visitors. When I arrived home, I hung the feeder on the tree in my mother’s back garden. Now there are two feeders and a different kind of food.

Let’s see what happens!

Still in Stourbridge, after all the shopping, I visited the Chequers Inn for a glass of wine at the top of High Street, which is a Wetherspoons. The pub is huge, featuring a beautiful, large island bar, all decorated in traditional dark English oak. The pub is quite impressive; however, it is obvious that it is a little worn, showing signs of age and the wear and tear it must endure due to its busy atmosphere.

I was going to go back home by bus, but I decided to walk the same way I had. In half an hour, I arrived back in Wordsley. Before heading home, I stopped at the local pub and had two glasses of red wine.

I arrived home around 4:30. I had been out on the street since about 10:00 a.m. How good is that! I thoroughly enjoyed my day; it was also nice to walk and try to clear my head.

I have been attracted to a woman here in Wordsley, a fascinating woman whom I discovered, indirectly, is going through a divorce, a complicated divorce, as most are, taking much longer to resolve than needed or wanted.

My head is telling me it is a waste of time, but my heart is trying to steer me in the opposite direction. I also do not want to be the man who is just one more body in her life before she gets her shit together and realises that feeling sorry for herself and fighting are just a waste of time.

My intuition is screaming red flags, and every time I have not listened to my intuition, I have fucked myself. My gut is also telling me that I am wasting my time, and besides this, I’m going to get hurt. So I’m slowly pulling myself out of this situation to self-preserve. I’ve never imagined something that has a very high probability, given the numerous variables in the equation, for it to go wrong.

Brazil, England, different families and cultures—it’s better to keep my life simple rather than overcomplicate it! Stay simple, do not complicate your life, Richard!

My mother prepared a traditional Sunday roast, and as usual, I washed the dishes and tidied the kitchen. I have no trouble doing it; it’s a pleasure for me.

In bed by 11:00 p.m.

What a great day, with a lovely walk along the canal, beautiful scenery, some shopping, a couple of glasses of wine, and a slightly troubled mind, which in some ways seems to be usual for me.

We are always winging it!

Thank you.

Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Richard

Photos by Richard George Photography

The post Sunday the 3rd of March 2024: “A Lone Sunday in Stourbridge”!!! first appeared on The Long Gringo.

It is Saturday, the weather forecast is for sun, and everything is good.

Today, my early routine was a little different. Instead of going straight to the baker’s for a coffee after my workout, this time, I decided to go home first and then go. Why?

Because it is Saturday and I don’t have to get up as early as usual, I can work out a little later, shower at home, and then go out for coffee and write an entry in my journal. Some people go to the café part of the baker’s to work, write, study, or even have online conference calls or meetings whilst having a coffee or breakfast, so I thought, why don’t I do the same?

So, I did a really good heavy workout in the park in front of the Bay. It was already light when I arrived; it is usually dark. I walked back home along the cycle path in front of the Bay, taking a few photos and observing the people passing by, doing their stuff: running, walking, or biking.

I am only an amateur photographer.

I took a very basic online photography course to learn the basics; the rest I learned from point-and-shoot photography, which involves seeing images in your head as you walk, appreciating them, and finally shooting a photo.

I have been doing this for over five years now, and I am grateful that many people like my photos. One of the secrets is to continually seek out a different angle or a basic online photography course to learn the basics; the rest I learned from point-and-shoot photography, which involves seeing images in your head as you walk, appreciating them, and letting them provoke the viewer’s eye and mind.

Like all art, it is not necessarily meant to be understood but to make the person think, to provoke thought and a reaction. Each person has their own way of thinking, seeing, appreciating and interpreting something in front of them.

Photography gives me that pleasure, especially street and landscape photography, where you can shoot whatever, wherever, whenever and whoever you want. I want to become a professional photographer and earn some money from it at the same time. Let’s see.

When I arrived home, Nalva had already gone to work, and Yasmin was still sleeping. It was about half past eight, neither late nor early in the morning. I had a shower and a change of clothes, picked up my diary, and went to the baker’s. This was my first time doing this, and I loved it!!!

When I arrived, the girls automatically knew what I wanted and served me my strong black coffee in less than a minute. I took off my bracelets because they were awkward to write with, and I began to write and write and write.

The words flowed like water coming down a mountain from my mind to my hand and onto paper. It was good. I was falling behind because I had a backlog of journaling.

The plan was to catch up on at least two days today and two more tomorrow, which worked out. I think I was in the bakery for at least an hour, during which I wrote two days’ worth of journal entries and drank three medium black coffees.

After leaving the baker’s, I went to the Pão de Açúcar supermarket.

When I lived in Copacabana, I always went to Ultra supermarket, a small supermarket chain with one literally two minutes’ walk from where I lived. As a regular there, going at least three or four times a week, I made friends with those who worked there. Besides being convenient, it was clean, reasonably priced, well-organised, and free of nasty smells, unlike those you sometimes encounter in Brazilian supermarkets.

This more prominent, better-known supermarket was taken over by a French group about ten years ago, and now, for me at least, it is dirty, poorly organised, and expensive. The cashier who attended to me made it clear that he was not happy working there and was totally disheartened.

I bought some stuff for the home and went home; when I arrived, Yasmin was waking up and in a bad mood, as nearly always. If you speak to her before noon, you might lose your arm. Nalva arrived in the early afternoon, and everybody rested. In the evening, I opened a bottle of red wine, and everything was good.

WINE HELPS A LOT!!!

In bed by 10 pm.

Thank you.

Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.

Richard

Photos by Richard George Photography

The post Saturday with Coffee, Photography and Journalling first appeared on The Long Gringo.