Let me be quite clear on this subject. Any day where I wake up and Mrs B. isn’t showing symptoms of gross chronic fatigue, is a bloody ideal day. So, let’s assume for this exercise that she is raring to go, sadly a very exceptional and atypical occurrence right now.
Mrs B. is off to her favourite pastime, aqua-aerobics. Her arthritic joints complain far less in the buoyancy of water. She loves it, and meeting so many friends at the same time gives her, (and them I hope!) a wonderful experience.
Meanwhile, I’m off to the only lawn bowls arena in North Cyprus. It’s literally just down the road for me. During my session, I am victorious in everything I do, and the whole bowls club is looking up at me in awe of my utter brilliance. (I may just have exaggerated that last sentence a tad….)
Then we meet up for a late breakfast at one of our favourite locations, Zinhi’s Coastal Café, set on top of the cliffs with panoramic views of both the Mediterranean and the mountains. Family-run, with excellent food and drinks, topped by a stunning location.
Maybe an afternoon of utter relaxation by the pool, reading my latest book, and Mrs B. listening to her audio-books.
Before the end of daylight, a short trip down to the beach bar, to watch the sunset, with a glass or two of our favourite tipple. Tough, isn’t it?
To complete my ideal day, we will go back home and watch an episode of a T.V. “who-done-it”, with me attempting to avoid falling asleep after the massive exertions outlined above.
I am so blessed that all this is actually available to me in reality, not as some distant pipe-dream. The only dreaming I do is the “winning” bit at bowls. That’s actually pure fabrication.
My ideal day
Once you get to a certain age, you just can’t be bothered. So, the truth is my ideal day would include nothing at all. But, alas, that will not do — truth is, our editor, Roger, is a dookie head and doesn’t tolerate my shenanigans. The sofa, bad wine, and video games are sadly out.
Each Wednesday, we do a video thingy and decide what the week’s topic will be. It was mentioned that we should actually accomplish something on our day. That seems right to me but it’s also my ideal day, so it has to be something I would want to do.
With this in mind, I hereby grant myself certain superpowers. I can travel instantly through space. I will not be killed by vacuum, radiation, temperature, and pestilence.
I want to go to Enceladus. Yeah, I know: What’s an Enceladus? That’s a moon of Saturn and smart people think there is a good chance of life is there. The view would be stunning. Saturn and her rings would fill a big chunk of sky. Wicked cool. The whole moon is covered in water ice and there are water geysers. There’s an ocean underneath the whole thing and that is where the life may live.
I would need to take some stuff along that would require NASA to be cool for a day. My list has a number of items, like a collection of hammer and gloves. If I touch the water or ice, I’ve ruined the sample. I’ll need an high-end video/still camera, and collection containers and I guess a backpack to keep it all in. It all has to be seriously sterile, which I understand is hard to do. They will probably want to stick me in some hazmat suits so I don’t dump germs all over the joint. Maybe that needs to be one of my superpowers; I don’t shed germs, dead skin, DNA, or organic stuff of any kind.
Crap, this is getting complicated. If you want to take a wiz, will it freeze before its even left Little Elvis? Damn. Oh man, a thought just occurred to me. What if NASA wants to stick me in a room for a month when I get back? I bet they know about that TV show, The Walking Dead.
You know what? Forget it! I’ll just sit on the sofa, drink bad wine, and play video games. Screw you, Roger!
My ideal day…
…starts with sunrise, early in the morning.
I live by the sea in a subtropical location, could be Italy, or Greece, or Cyprus, or… even Sri Lanka!
My house is rather small, but I have all the modern amenities here, like AC, fans, fridge, stable WiFi, and even a small pool.
I am cooking a simple breakfast, like eggs and ham, some fresh bread, cheese, some fruits or veggies, plus coffee, and orange juice. Again, rather typical, but it works for me just fine. I am saluting a new day in my own paradise.
I am a freelance writer. I work for overseas clients. It doesn’t bring tons of money, but enough to have a decent living and enjoy a simple life in a nice place, with a possibility to travel a couple of times per year.
After breakfast, I spend time reading world news online. Then, I have a task to do, for about two hours. Once finished, I go to the sea, to take a stroll and, maybe, even swim, just for half an hour. I can also run for thirty minutes or take a bike, depending on the weather.
After lunch, I get back to work, just finishing when the sun starts to go down. This is a nice time to walk to the beach again. I take a couple of beers, to enjoy the endless waves, beautiful sky, and the sun, slowly going down to the western horizon.
I hope I have a beautiful woman who shares my lifestyle and my values. Before going to bed, we drink tea and chat at home, discussing news from the outside world – and small news originating from our place.
This is a simple life, but this is what makes my ideal day.