Nothing old-fashioned about needing somebody to lean on

He was out in his garden when I got home. Bob is my neighbour and he was looking for the space station in the night sky.

He pointed it out to me and we both waved to the astronauts. They probably waved back.

Instead of going indoors, he leaned on the fence between our garden. I found a strong section a safe distance away and adopted a similar posture. Then, in the dark, frosty, fresh air, we caught up on each other’s news, asked after our respective families, then we took some time to put the world to rights.

The idea of chatting over a garden fence is a very old one. It’s almost quaintly old-fashioned.

But, in these days of space stations, instant messaging, and pandemics, there aren’t many ways of communicating as effective, or as good for your mental health, as two elbows placed on some sturdy wood.

When Gaynor had to move home in a hurry, no removal companies were available. Thankfully, her dad stepped in to help with the lifting and shifting.

When Gaynor commented that the building her new flat was in was quite old, her dad laughed.

“He remembered it being built,” she told me. “In fact, he remembered, one summer holiday, playing on the bare ground after the tenement that had been here before was swept away. There was a sandstone block, almost buried in the ground and, over several days, he tried to dig it up with an ice-lolly stick because he was sure there was treasure there. I laughed, thinking he was just sharing an anecdote.”

Gaynor took a second to compose herself. Then she continued, “As he said goodbye, he told me he had been right. The treasure was there. He’d just been looking for it 50 years too early!”

We were in the car park outside Andrea’s new flat.

“It’s not ideally situated,” she said. “But it’ll do for now. In fact, ‘not ideally situated’ could apply to so many aspects of my life right now – the flat, my relationships, my work.”

I didn’t really know how to respond, then I saw the little plant. Somehow a seed had taken root in broken brick, in a wall of brick and cement, by the side of a car park All through the winter, it had survived, grown flowers, and, even while there was snow on the ground, it was putting out runners.

We looked at it together. I suggested we call it the “Andrea plant” and she promised to follow its example.

There are many things in life that would restrict our potential. But, mostly, they only work when we allow them to.

How about you? Are you ideally situated?

To get them both some exercise, George took his seven-year-old granddaughter Tammy out for a walk around the town and country where he grew up.

Along the way, he shared more than a few stories of childhood adventures. After quite a few of them she would say, “Wow! And what did your mum think of that?”

Two hours later, after an enjoyable walk, Tammy’s mum met them at the door and asked, “Well, how was it?”

“It was good,” Tammy replied.

“It was basically Gramps telling me all the ways he got his bottom smacked when he was a child.”

George started to object. His daughter raised her eyebrows and tried hard not to smile.

“Yeah,” he grudgingly admitted. “That – and some exercise – is basically what it was.”

Us old ones should be careful when we are telling stories. We might give away more than we mean to!