Wordsley, Stourbridge, England: 5 degrees, cold, cloudy and with drizzle.
Today has been basically one long walk.
Up early, I worked on the computer, wrote in my journal, and then prepared to go out. I wanted to visit a second-hand motorbike dealer on the other side of Brierley Hill, near where my late grandfather lived.
My mother knew that I was going to Brierley Hill, so she made a list of items for me to buy that couldn’t be purchased nearby in the village.
I set off in the cold, grey, overcast and slightly rainy day. The idea was to either go or come back on the bus which never happened. Sometimes when I walk, I lose myself. All my worries, problems, doubts, insecurities and anxiety just fall away and behind me when I’m walking. As I have said so many times, it is one of the best therapies available, and it is very cheap; it’s almost free.
So, I walked up into Brierley Hill, went to the store with the list of things my mother wanted to buy, paid for everything, and left. I passed through the Brierley Hill indoor market, which, for me nowadays, is a disappointment.
It is very similar in some ways to the Saturday Street fair in Praça Quinze, in the city centre of Rio, with stands selling antiques, collectables that many people no longer want, second-hand goods, and clothing, among other items.
I went on to the main High Street again and, walking down, I’m back on myself, as if it were a round trip. I would eventually arrive at the motorbike showroom, and a little further down the same street is my grandfather’s old house.
The motorbike showroom was quite impressive, showcasing a wide selection of bikes from leading manufacturers, including several traditional British brands, large motorcycles, and various exotic models that are not commonly found in Brazil. Most of the bikes were large, with price tags averaging between £7,000 and £10,000.
There were some interesting old, vintage bikes, including an Italian Ducati, many Triumphs, BMWs, Royal Enfields, and BSAs, which are not commonly seen in Brazil. Royal Enfield is making a name for itself with good value-for-money, retro-style bikes that are selling extremely well and are very popular in Brazil now.
BMW has been present in Brazil for a long time, and it has an excellent reputation. Triumph is trying to establish a presence in Brazil. As it is a British brand, they’re expensive, but they’re very good. There is a very nice Triumph dealer in Marina de Gloria, located in front of the Bay, that I have visited.
I spoke with the showroom salesman for a while, who I believe was the owner or a partner, and then I left. I walked down and past my grandfather’s house, where, for me, remembering the past feels like recalling something from another person, another time, and it wasn’t really me.
It seems so long ago, and after living so long in Brazil and perhaps trying to forget my past in England in some ways, returning now, so many things in England seem foreign and distant to me. Yet they were, and still are, a part of me, my life and my memories.
I continued walking down Brettel Lane, and at the end of the street, there is a T-junction, with the left turn going in the direction of Stourbridge and the right turn towards Wordsley, where my mother lives. On the right-hand side of this T-junction, there is a Lidl German supermarket that supposedly has the cheapest prices in England; similar to the Mundial supermarket chain in Rio.
However, what is particularly interesting to me about Lidl and Aldi, the sister supermarket chains of the same group, is that in the middle of the supermarket, there are two or three aisles with steel mesh boxes or containers selling a wide range of items for you and your home.
These include clothes, fitness wear, tools, fitness equipment, kitchen utensils, and more- you name it, they probably have it there. I was considering buying a kettlebell for weight training, and then I noticed they had different weights available: 2.5 kg, 8 kg, and 10 kg.
I’m seriously thinking about buying the 8 kg, but I didn’t purchase it because it was the end of the month, and I will wait for some more money to come into my account. Then, maybe I will buy it. I love wandering down the aisles in the supermarket; it’s like Christmas early because you never know what you’ll find. There’s always something surprising and interesting.
There’s always something good to see and buy, and everything is pretty affordable. For me, strolling around the aisles for 15 minutes, browsing through the available items, is like therapy. I think I’ve had three therapy sessions today: one walking around the region, two visiting the motorbike dealers and looking at the bikes, and three 15-minute walks around the aisles in Lidl.
How good is that?
When I left the supermarket, I noticed a sudden change in temperature between inside and outside the supermarket. The cold slapped me in the face as I stepped out; it was beginning to drizzle heavily, and the threat of a downpour was appearing.
When I got home, I sold some crypto to pay off a debt in Brazil, related to Yasmin’s glasses with Dona Vera. I transferred the money, and at least one more debt has been paid off. I didn’t want to sell the crypto, but I wanted to get rid of the debt, and now it is done and in the past.
In the evening, I cooked scrambled eggs on toast for both my mother and Me. I opened a bottle of wine and had some quality time watching TV before going to bed.
In bed by midnight.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading this blog post. Please explore my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments section.
Richard
