Carping: Day 2

In life there are trade-offs: at Penwarne Farm one sacrifices shelter for an amazing vista. Having recently spent a night sleeping in a yurt in little more than underwear, I seriously underestimated the chill between the hours of 11pm and 6.15am – approximately when the sun comes up. It was one of those nights that you awake from surprised because you don’t feel as if you slept at all, but you must have because you’re waking up. This time it was to the proverbial knock of Marilyn at my tent door. Her innocent welcoming of me into the day felt more like the hauling of a piece of shipwreck from the bottom of the Atlantic. Un-showered and unaccustomed to the farmyard niceties, I blame myself for the brevity of our exchange.  Turns out, she’s a lovely lady. And, judging by the fact she’d want to charge me 8 quid a night or 40 quid for 6-weeks, it wouldn’t be crazy to ascertain that she wants me around.

It was a slow morning, all told. I waited the better part of a half hour for my pan of water to boil and, caving the moment I saw a family of bubbles forming, kid myself that I could be fancy enough to drink drip coffee and lay out in the sun reading dystopic fiction.

Things that are, in fact, necessary:

A kettle

A groundsheet

Thick socks

The afternoon was spent giving a half-hearted attempt at some research for as long as a hipster-sized coffee would allow, looking out onto the Penryn waterfront that’s far too nice to be just casually there like it is. Learnt from the internet that George Washington was the first to use the word ‘moment’ as we do in its current form. And that Generation X is considered to be an iconic piece of literature. Thanks to The Muddy Café’s power outlets, my electronics will live to see another day.

Next, I went to what Lizzy and I called my ‘conference’ the first time I went and never stopped – therapy. Therapy begets similar anxiety to pre-planned exercise. The knowledge that you’re choosing to exert yourself makes it a very easy thing to back out of at the last minute. Thankfully, it was too late notice for my therapist, who said he’d charge me regardless if I went or not. So, I spent some time stretching my brain like I would my calves, and went in for an hour session...

Have been researching Transcendentalism. Trascendentalists believe that society and its institutions – particularly organised religion and political parties – corrupt the purity of the individual. They have faith that people are truly at their best when they are self-reliant and independent. 

On the stereo: Very little