Thursday, May 14

Today is Ascension Day and a public holiday in Finland and one or two other countries. I took advantage of this and didn’t set an alarm. I slept until 9:30. Sunshine didn’t wake me this morning and I presume that was because it had looked out of the window and noticed the weather.

By the time I have eaten breakfast the rain has stopped and it is beginning to look as though it might be a sunny day. If it is then I will paint the floor of the new terrace.

At breakfast I noticed that I need bread and milk, and something for dinner tonight, so I decided to cycle to Alepa to see if it was open. A couple of hours later I did. As I approached I noticed that it was indeed open, and so I decided to keep cycling and see if Prisma was open. I paused to cross the road by Alepa and looked to my left.

I can see that there has been a traffic accident because the main road is littered with police vans and fire engines. I stand and watch to try to work out what has actually happened. Two cars have obviously collided but they are in very odd positions, so it is not easy to imagine the events. Fortunately, whatever happened, it would appear that nobody was hurt; although I am sure a number of people are shocked and shaken up.

Prisma will be open, so obviously Ascension Day – Helatorstai – is not one of the religious festivals which force all the shops to close. I will notice that the Alko is closed though. Having bought some food, I will then make a completely illogical decision. I am hungry, I will think. I wonder if the new Burger King in Itis is open today. It will be, and so I will have a flame-grilled lunch. Both Prisma and Itis are almost deserted, and so I will enjoy a quiet and peaceful flame-grilled lunch.

I will spend the rest of the day in a state of mild frustration. I will cycle back planning to finish the new terrace. I will tidy the kitchen first and then go to the shed to put my painting clothes on. As I am doing this there will be a sudden burst of torrential rain. I will wait in the shed but the rain will slow down without actually stopping. I will put my clothes back on and retreat into the house.

I will do more work on my website, and then watch a Doctor Who dvd, the one in which Matt Smith says goodbye. The one Auo wanted to see when she got back from India, except that she didn’t get back from India, and so she never saw it. Watching it will be a kind of hollow pleasure because I will not be able to get the feeling that Auo should be here with me out of my mind.

I will make one more attempt to paint the floor of the terrace. This time I will be stopped by a thunderstorm that will bring the cat racing back into the house from whether it was. In the early evening I will go out to check. The pavements are dry again, but the wood I want to paint is still noticeably damp.

I will feel as though the day has been wasted. If I had decided to do nothing other than work on my website I would probably have finished it, and be ready to move onto the next thing. As it is I have a list of unfinished things to do and no desire to watch another dvd.