Ouch!

It's been a few days since I last posted anything, and that's partly because it isn't easy to do that from a horizontal position. Last week I had a definite intimation of mortality when my back, very suddenly and quite decisively, "went"! One moment I was fine, and the next I couldn't move a step. I was in spasm, I guess, with pain building on pain. After a couple of days floating around on codeine I'm better than I was, thank you . . . still a twinge or two, mind. Nor did I miss a day's work, but I missed mostly everything else, including one significant family event. When you're used to being fit, it's pretty tough when you get to the stage of not being able to even walk across the room, let alone get into your car and drive.

Strangely, on Saturday I was fine . . . too fine, to be honest, I did all kinds of things I shouldn't, totally over-estimated my powers of recovery, and put things out again. But it did mean I was able to get to the Minsterley Eisteddfod, compete in a number of classes, and come away with two firsts and three seconds. That was, I think, my most successful day at the Eisteddfod, though others did even better. A lot of eisteddfodau and local music festivals have bitten the dust over the years; I'm glad to see Minsterley continue, and, indeed, make it to fifty years old this year. I'm glad not only because it gives oldsters like me a chance to shine, before our spines completely crumble and we're stuck in bathchairs, but because it gives young people a chance to perform, to learn, to achieve, to make something of their talents. And they were certainly there at Minsterley. I missed most of the day session, when children and young people compete, as I was busy at home doing all the things that did my back in again - mostly trying to re-start a recalcitrant lawn-mower - but it was well-attended and there was some real young talent on display, so I'm told. The younger element was very present, and, I have to admit, far more talented and successful than me, in the adult evening classes too, and everyone received encouragement and useful advice from the excellent adjudicators. Long may it continue!

Ann and I went back to Minsterley last night (in my case, well fuelled with pain-killers) for the celebration concert, which featured the very entertaining Wessex Male Voice Choir. The place was packed, I'm pleased to note, and everyone went home happy (including the choir, who probably got home to Wiltshire somewhere around dawn this morning, I should think). Thank God for the gift of music - and for those who work so hard to encourage it!

And - though I am up and about this morning - ouch (still)! My b----y back!