Slightly Old Fashioned

I do not use my blog to record my runs; instead I prefer to write out the details in a notebook. There is something about the act of hand writing my diary whilst still in the post-run, relaxed frame of mind, that is pleasurable. In saying this I am admitting that I am not part of the modern world ( illustrated by this piece by Tanya Gold about giving up technology for a week , where she found out she was unable to write using a pen ) but sometimes we just have to own-up to things.

One of the advantages of have the diaries is that I can easily look back, year on year, to compare. When I do I realise two things. The first is that there is a recurring pattern of stop start i.e. I will establish a routine for only a short time before something happens to break it; the second is that it is almost written in code, with my own names for different section ns of the runs. They are of absolutely no use to anybody else. Nevertheless it is useful to have the books on the shelf, especially on winter evening when I am planning what I will be doing in the upcoming year. They earn their shelf space.

I have been thinking about this quite a lot recently as we are in the middle of an exercise of going through our possessions, trying to reduce the amount of clutter. To be kept, something should be either useful, beautiful or have sentimental value. Sometimes it is a hard judgement to make but the question must be asked.

Recently we emptied the loft, to insulate it to modern standards, which has led to an enormous amount of sorting. Stuff kept there is either sentimental, or of very occasional use (otherwise it wouldn’t be in the loft) and because it had been out of sight for a long time much of it had been forgotten. The process is therefore slow as everything has to be looked at carefully and memories are stirred.

Sometimes there are discoveries. Amidst some of the memorabilia from my father I found this telephone contract from 1907 (the signed contract is on the other side of the charges). Where it came from I don’t know, except I have a vague recollection that he found it in the loft of one of our houses. He would have kept it out of professional interest (he worked in telecoms all his life, as did my grandfather). Certainly none of my ancestors would have been wealthy enough to own a telephone in 1907. According to this site the annual fee of £17 would today be worth £1,236 in terms of increases in the retail price index but if it was looked at in terms of per capita GDP it would be worth £7,571. That is an awful lot of money to talk to a small number of people.

It shows how much things have changed in 100 years and I will think of that when I next take out my fountain pen to write in my notebook. A very tiny anachronism.