A Sunny Day

Over the past week or so, thaw and rain have been working away at the thick layer of snow we had before that. It's been a slow process though, and the nearby surroundings have been such a mess of slush and ice that some days even the few steps to the dustbins at the corner of the building have not seemed worth the risk. 

 

Yesterday, I manged a somewhat longer "reconnaissance tour" in the immediate neighbourhood, though, trying to assess the general situation - and I found the streets now for the most part fairly ice-free and dry. And with the forecasts for the beginning of this week suggesting temperatures to remain around freezing point, but no further rain/snow falling, I gathered up my courage to at last try to get myself into the city centre for a by now seriously overdue haircut. (The combination of my unfortunate fall and knee injury in early October, and the snowy winter following, has made it difficult for me to walk much; and even to try taking a bus part of the way hasn't felt safe.)

 

Today even seemed to promise some sunshine, and after having washed my hair in the shower in the morning, I decided to call my hairdresser. I was in luck: she could fit me in at 11:40. I decided that my best option was probably to walk along a major street towards the railway station/travel center (about half-way), because if I felt too tired when getting that far, I'd be able to take a bus from there to a place closer to my goal. However, having reached the intersection where I needed to make that choice, I felt ok to continue walking. I also found I had time before the hairdressing appointment to visit a nearby pharmacy (for a few non-prescription things). I arrived at the hairdresser's at 11:30, and found her ready for me. She was efficient as usual, and when she was done, I felt relieved to "be myself" again. Actually I almost felt like about ten years younger...!  (Not in the sense back to 60, but at least back to my actual age, from lately having felt more like 80!) 

 

AI image reused from some previous occasion.

 

Thus rejuvenated, from the hairdresser's I walked to a nearby bus stop, prepared to take any of three buses passing by there back to the travel center. One came in just as I arrived to the stop; and as it turned out, at the travel center I could then change directly to another bus taking me a further two stops closer to home; with only ~10 min left to walk from there. 

 

I had left home at 10:45, and was back at 12:15; and the whole adventure went more smoothly (and with less knee pain) than I had dared hope for. 

 

The photo at the top is the only one I snapped on my outing: Looking back at the street where my hairdresser's salon is situated, before I walked on to take the bus back home.