Reality

Given my well-rehearsed hatred of both winter and work, plus the hinted-at excesses of the last couple of weeks -- including, but not limited to, recklessly scrambled sleep patterns -- you can probably imagine how sour and jaded I'm feeling this morning. This is one of those grim, back-to-school days where it seems the future holds nothing but chill dreariness and unremitting drudgery, and all hope of joy is sucked out of the world.

The day got off to a flying start. We've got electricians working in the flat this week, and of course, being electricians, they arrived bright and early -- two adjectives that do not belong together at any time, but especially not today. Ian, still time-shifted from too much revelry, only managed to get to sleep about 5.30, and was even more frazzled than me when the doorbell went before 8. I sent them away for an hour, to give us time to shower and dress and so on, but it would have needed to be more like 6 hours to make the whole process bearable. Relations were a little strained there for a while.

One of the pieces of news that filtered through the haze of sleep during this period was that Sheila McKechnie has died. Dame Sheila McKechnie, apparently, which just seems totally fucking weird. I've seen and heard her around in the media from time to time, and it's always felt a bit incongruous. Back in the 1970s, in Manchester, she was a regular fixture of my life, one of those people who wandered in and out of the commune; I can't remember if she actually lived with us, or was just the lesbian lover of someone who did. She continued to crop up after we moved to London; I think the last time I saw her was probably sometime in the early 1980s.

It's a strange thing to hear about the death of someone from your distant past; stranger still when that person has moved from being a part of your personal life to a part of the public life of the country. The Sheila McKechnie the obituaries describe isn't the one I knew; but I hope they both rest in peace.
Posted by matt at January 5, 2004 10:49 AM